MassBass

Pulled a good striper today. Smashed a spinnerbait from the edge of a dock. Could be a holdover but personally I think it is migratory. It is debatable.

If visibility was 10ft plus, you should be able to see fish on beds if it is that time.

One of my bigger river smallies came in spring on a white grub. Kind of a big grub made for saltwater. Didn't measure length but fish weighed just shy of 4 lbs. I would like to suggest a spinnerbait, but maybe something more subtle like a grub would be better for just targeting big bites.

Nice catch. What baits are they taking?

I think the opposite is true, low water condenses the fish, also makes pools and rips more defined, and makes it easier to wander the bank.

I don't like sonar on big lakes because I feel bass don't react the same to rattlebaits.

Set off with a goal of soaking some crawlers I had left over. I had a spot in mind that looked good weeks ago, but today flow was different and tide was low. However carp were all along the bank, breaching and finning. Couldn't get any quick takes with a nightcrawler and I didn't have enough corn to make a chum slick. Spent a lot of time letting it soak. The carp will tease you and play games. I tried the bottom rig at another nearby spot, then changed tactics and tried a float rig, making casts and drifts. Confidence was pretty bad by now. Then I found a pocket of sunfish and perch. Caught about a dozen sunfish. I did see a big carp cruise through near the sunfish, but didn't show interest in the float rig. After catching some fish, and keeping a couple, my morale was rejuvenated and I felt like waiting for a carp take again, but I was only able to get bluegill taps and a snag. I would try a last ditch effort at the park where I was parked to finish my coffee. I walked onto the dock and saw a big carp cruising shallow. I had a piece of crawler threaded on a hair rig, so I set it out and though she might find it. Soon I had a take, fish on. Very far first run, like a lot of line, so I thought it was big, maybe the big one I saw. The battle was quite epic, like Godzilla, people watching and some other anglers, deflating their vessel, were there and had a boga to help drag it in when she was ready. So, state pin is 33", this fish is 32"? Maybe? Regardless, it's the biggest carp I have landed in this river.

The increasing daylight triggers mating and spawning in fish. Reptiles (cold blooded) are also very sensitive to the daylight cycle and start searching for a mate. I think temperature is almost secondary to the increasing light cycle.

The Esox is a savage beast

Thanks for all the advice. The trip went well with one day of 'killing it' making up for skunked outings on the bank. I hit cave rock twice, both days there was a strong and cold North wind. A couple locals were there just sitting in their truck with lines out. Said they got a big Brown recently, but nothing on the days I talked to them, I had no takes either. A recurrent issue was the oldness of my old man. Before we made the crossing to Tahoe, we went to Washoe lake. I tried dilly dallying here and there with a night crawler. I had an idea, to walk far up the windblown shore with a spinner, which was casting well against the wind, but he wanted to leave already. It was a similar story at the Carson River, but I could not get a bite there despite my best efforts. Back at Tahoe, after a fishless outing to the Sand harbor area, I knew I had to call the professionals. We went out with Tahoe Sportfishing on an afternoon outing. The deckhand Andrew was a cool guy and a good fisherman. He asked if I had ever caught a lake trout, I said 'its on my bucket list.' He goes 'well you came to the right place!' They were using what you would probably call a bottom bouncer rig, with three flashers on the leader to a small shiner threaded through a treble. The first drift two people lost a fish. The second drift we were just dragging along, no bites yet. I was watching the deckhands rod, and it was really pop pop, jerk jerk of the rod. I started mimicking the action he was giving the rig, then bam, I was on, good fish. Then I kind of got away from that action, trying to feel the bottom and the flashers (they use braid), but when I picked up the jerk jerk action again, I got some more bites. It was my father and I, and three others, a dad and his two teenage sons. The boat caught 11 fish, but personally I did well with two of the bigger sized fish and three smaller ones. I was able to net my dad's fish at the end which was classic. We kept, and I baked them the next day and it came out well. In the hotel In south Lake Tahoe I did more research, about stocked waters and Pyramid Lake. I think if I was on my own with a different pace I would have gone up there. I found a stocked pond complex near Reno to hit on the last day. We showed up in the morning, and I immediately noticed diving cormorants. They were hunting the stocked trout! I stared with a spinner, covering water, seemed kind of fishy. At one spot I casted the spinner, and a flock of pigeons flew right in front. I hooked a pigeon and it fell to the water. I thought oh ****. I brought it in and then up to the dock/deck I was on, then I kind of panicked and took out my knife and cut the line. Then the pigeon starts scurrying off, with the spinner dangling behind it. It wasn't actually hooked, just tangled in the line. It was a bad look and I couldn't leave it like that, so I chased after the bird, and then it freed itself and left the spinner, leader and swivel on the concrete. After that ordeal I decided to set up with a powerbait. I had a bite, tap tap. Then it dropped before I set. At another spot, same thing. Then at the end I had a crawler out, I had a tap, then I pulled it- nothing. I think I was dealing with 10" or so stockies, and my terminal was kind of big for that. So, nothing to show on my own gear, but a great time with the guides.

I think a chatterbait is a good idea.

The reason I want to go back is because I caught four or five bass and a big crappie. I saw the carp, but I was exploring with bass gear and they were smashing a plopper lure, on a warm summer evening, where the lilly pads met the main channel. There was some big areas of pads/salad, I'm sure there is some hawgs back up there.

First carps of the year.

I had a good outing, with the strong west wind and a spinnerbait. Got a big at 4lbs. Then I set up for carp and got a couple. I'll post those on the other species thread to stay relevant over there ?

Yes, this is a real phenomenon. I noticed it myself when Storm was making very realistic craw jigs, compared to a tube jig. It is the same phenomenon with cartoon art. If the art is depicted too realistically, people just notice the imperfections in the figures and can't stand it. If it is rather a loose representation of humans, people accept it as other people and go along with the plot of the cartoon. Maybe when a bass looks at a very realistic soft craw, something just looks wrong with it.

How bout some urban scenery!

It's a legitimate concern. But if the rattle bait bite is on, you can pull a big bite. A big lake is the best water for a rattlebait. Most water I have fished in MA I wouldn't call ideal rattlebait water. I will say one time I went to Mascoppic lake, caught two high 4s on a rattlebait.

If your not getten em no one is! I will hopefully try this weekend for a big bite.

Erie is such a huge system...the Great Lakes are the biggest freshwater system in the world...there will be another. You took a drop out of the pool.

The natural source of lumber in Iceland is driftwood from Siberia. For some reason it just washes up there. If you are going during summer, it will be light all the time. Might need an eye mask to sleep. Then in winter, it's dark all the time. There is a lot of ghost stories, and tales of fairies and trolls. As far as I know there is no large canid or dangerous animal on the island. Supposedly they can get polar bears from Greenland, but only in winter when ice connects the lands, and that doesn't usually happen these days with the climate situation. Their history is all about the Vikings. There were some Irish hermits on the island before the Vikings appeared. So, the big bad Vikings showed up and they wanted to settle, but they needed more women. So they sailed/rowed to Ireland and took red- haired women. You will see it in today's demographics to.

Something to add, you can drink the water out of the streams. It's pure glacial fed.

Baby bass

So, I went on tour of Backcountry Iceland for a study abroad expedition. I didn't fish but I saw the water and talked to some native anglers. There are a lot of streams. If you could have a rental car, a map, and your gear you will have many miles of shoreline to explore, most of which is lightly fished and in remote areas probably never fished. My impression is that licensing is very expensive for foreigners. But some of those streams, you may never be there again, pay up and go for it is what I would do. I can't tell you if fly fishing is the law or just the preferred method. If you are able to read current at your home river, I am sure with a basic selection of proven flys you will catch. You won't have to cast far but you may need to present accurately and smoothly. Artic char is there. Some guy at the bar showed me a video of his catch, maybe a Brown? It looks like good wading water. All grass on the banks, no brush or trees. Stay safe if you are way out there because there will be no help or cell service. Don't eat the fermented shark, but the freeze dried cod is good!

I believe the philosophy that cloud cover prolongs the early morning bite. No need to put away the walk baits or poppers if the clouds hang around. Unless it's a sour East wind.

If this fish is comparable to the Commons in Atlantic drainage rivers, you can forget eradication if they get established reproducing populations. They will have a profound effect on the system. Common carp is a particle feeder. They root at vegetation and the bottom. There is less rooted plants and probably more turbitity. It is outside of living memory what these rivers were like before their introduction. This fish is a filter feeder, which not only makes it a pain to fish for, but it will have big effects all through the food chain. Maybe you will see less little bait fish that also eat those plankton bits, etc. Like the Commons, the Snake head, the Northern Pike in some areas, it will assimilate and the sky will not fall, but the system will be different.