CRFisher

Crappy pic but first bass of the year, about 3lbs, on a white and blue spinnerbait.

Finally got first bass of the year, about a 3lber at the Charles River on a white and blue spinnerbait.

Inline spinners. The Mepps Black Fury's work well. I'd go with a number 4 or 5 blade.

First cast - 20 inch pike on a flatfish when I was 8 years old. I still think it's a good bait, with that slow wobble, although most people wouldn't consider it for bass. Last year I caught a dink bass in my first few casts ever with a fluke.

Absolute squat again today. Good news from the trip - 1) guy fishing with shiners had no luck - 2) guys fishing with crawlers had no luck, -so it isn't me and 3) saw a frog swimming around - seems early but I guess that means it's OK to start throwing frogs soon.

Heading out tomorrow to two places - plan on fishing deep. One spot supposedly has had some striper holing up deep because they got stuck or forget to swim back after following the herring last year. This is a freshwater lake that flows into a river close to the Atlantic - and they landed some ice fishing. I guess it's 60 feet deep in one spot, hoping to get a spoon out there and let if all. That or use a saltwater swimbait jighead to try to get some bigger plastics deep. The other spot is pond that's been stocked with some Salmon, smallest beign 9lbs and some holdovers from last year. Figure I'll go deep for bass in both places and maybe I'll get lucky with a monster salmon or striper.

Hooked a monster carp today on a rebel deep crank but lost it. Nothing besides that, threw everything and the kitchen sink.

No, not Foxboro, Watertown actually, but everytown in Mass is titletown with the Celts, Pats and Sox. Just got back from five hours of nothing. Started with a jig and chunk, fishing real slow, then moved to a deep crank to dig up the bottom a little, hooked a monster carp, biggest fish I've ever hooked but he threw the hook. Then threw the crank some more, rattletrap, tube, powerworm, inline spinner, culprit worm, lizard, X-rap, went back to the crank, spinnerbait, - not even a bite. Two other fine gentlemen where there two, threw swimbaits, spinners, creatures, cranks, etc. - nothing. Starting fishing everything real slow, by the end just throwing anything, no luck. Nice day to be out though. Strange thing is people were having luck icefishing there 3 weeks ago and it's a nice spot during the spawn and after, there had to be fish there, just not biting anything.

Probably hitting my local river tomorrow, the current keeps it mostly free from ice. Do you think I'm better off going deep or trying to hit some coves that are free of ice? Never fished pre spaw before. I know where they'll be in 3-4 weeks but not too sure now.

More of a beginner than an expert but I switched to braid to avoid losing any baits, you can haul in most of what you get caught on worst case. I tend to go with weighted soft plastics, a texas rig or a jig avoid hang ups better than a treble hooked crank. I've also resorted to a lot of heavy spoons for casting distance when you can't reach the deep water with typical cranks or plastics.

I don't think the first cast is any different between a cheapie and a well made one, but the cheap ones will warp, chip, and have their skirts fall apart pretty quickly.

I find myself flipping through the new Cabela's and BPS catalogs daily now., Only have gone through my tackle once, but will be restringing soon as well. Sick of winter, especially with all the shoveling I'll have to do tomorrow. At least another 3 or 4 weeks before I can get out there.

Probably not worth the 3 hours, but worth going if you're near by. I wouldn't expect any deals, but the selection is ridiculous. In my neck of the woods I'm lucky to get two aisles of fishing stuff in a Wal Mart (maybe 3 or 4 in Dicks Sporting Goods) so BPS's selection is worth a bit longer of a drive.

True about the Europe piece, although bass were mostly stocked in my area from other places. Many of the largemouth and smallmouth fisheries were established because they traveled so well and weren't naturally in the waters they are in now. I just didn't want to agree with wiping them out based on the fact they were introduced. I thought Pike was introduced but I was incorrect.

"Carp are a non-native invasive species from Europe. Prior to the late 1800's there were none to be found in North America. They were introduced as a "need" for food. Now they are everywhere, " - can't the same be said for Bass? or Pike?

Is there a fish market that sell Carp? I doubt they're selling them, maybe directly to a restaurant, etc. Typically if I see someone taking fish that means they're eating them. I would expect to see a lot more of this if the economy keeps up, especially in the areas hit hardest. I don't see this "stimulus" helping any. You might find that the staunchest catch and release guy might start frying them up if he's been unemployed for a while and can't find a job.

I bought one pack, lost them in a weekend to snags. I had worse luck with them than with other weights.

Next to nothing today, one dink bass and a small pickerel. 3 pretty good spots, actually caught the bass jigging a spoon off a bridge on the way back to my car.

All of my recent hits have been in 3 or 4 feet of water on inline spinners, mostly in areas that had lily pads a month or two ago.

I've got about 15 bags with only one or two plastics left, looking to consolidate when I pack up for the winter. I'll probably use some original bags if they look in good shape. Some are now close to 7 months old so they've taken a beating and may have small holes. I was thinking of adding the scent to just be able to toss the bottle, but also thought they might dry out a little. I read about the mineral oil here. I figured a drop of that wouldnt' hurt. Some of the plastics have been fished, some unused.

I think I'm going to keep the yum seperate and just add a drop of mineral oil to my plastics to keep them from drying out. It's the green Garlic LPT scent so i've heard of this staining things green as well.

I have a small amount of Yum scent leftover and getting ready to pack up my plastics for the winter. Would adding the Yum be a good idea? It appears to be oil based scent so I would think it wouldn't dry out the plastic.

I've had a lot of luck on inline spinners lately, hit Horn Pond in Woburn, the Charles and Lake Chauncey over the past weekend. Some dinks, a pickerel and a couple of good ones (2-3 lbs). Bite is still on I hope for another weekend I hope.

Hit Lake Chauncy yesterday afternoon for the first time. Not bad, two dinks and a 3lber in the first 15 minutes with a #4 Orange Black Fury. Nothing in 2+ hours after that. Everything I've caught in the last two weekends have been on inline spinners. All other baits are being ignored.

Wacky on a jighead will get both sides of the worm flopping on a twitch, I could see how it'd work fine, more action on the bottom maybe as opposed to the fall with a senko? I've had no luck at all lately except for inline spinners. #4 Black Fury for most of the damage. Cranks, Rapala's, RatLtraps, and spinnerbaits have gotten me nothing, same with plastics.