MassBass

I know they keep quiet about it, to keep all the yahoos down in mass and jersey

Great episode, but I think he got that bite because he finally went to some windy main lake rock... however how he fought and landed the fish on such gear was talented and lucky. As for the topic. yeah man. Last year was my first year at a new home river, didn't have much time to fish, so I would march around the bank on a hellfire mission to catch fish. Finally I sat down for a long while on a bench, and just vibed with the river, and the season, and nature. Tied on a spinner, and right away caught a white perch. There is life in the river! Since then I have had consistent success.

In line spinner

Are there summer steelhead in fishable numbers anymore?

Hey, I looked at the map and that lake is close to Conway Lake NH, which I have fished extensively. These are old natural glacial cut lakes. I would not put away your LM pond gear. If that lake is similar to conway lake, you will find that some areas resemble a weedy pond, while some areas are more deep and rock strewn. Some areas are a mix where you have scattered rock and scattered weed. Each cast you would not know if you would get a big LM or a big SM. Explore and try what works for LM down in mass.

I used to try a similar tactic that I read about, the idea is to run a bright chart. Or pink spinnerbait with bright painted blades high in the water column over deep water...this is for smallmouth in very clear water. The pattern didnt work for me, I had some big sm follow, but that was that. However, I found a spinnerbait at night was sure- fire. Regardless, I consider KVD the goat. His style may be called powerfishing, search fishing, etc. I think it is reaction fishing. If you can make fish react, then you can catch them. What a fish will react to can be totally different than what a fish will eat. I learned alot from KVDs style. He can flip jigs and finesse to if he has to. Finesse is consistent, powerfishing wins tournaments. I don't know, are there many pro anglers coming up that fish how KVD does?

Thats how I fished em when they first got popular back in '06-'07. Gut hooked and caused bleeding on so many big largemouth and smallmouth it was sick. Partly why I don't use the things anymore. The presentation is similar to live bait. I wouldn't mind if soft plastics were banned, just like how live bait is banned in some circles.

Is that tiger musky Columbia River drainage?

Hey guys thanks for the comments. I bought the BPS rod I mentioned in the op. I have used it thrice, and finally broke it in properly yesterday with 4 good bass smashin a topwater. I thought it seemed like a quality rod when i received it some months back. Take your time setting it up and retracting it, a broken tip is an accident waiting to happen. May require some adjustment while fishing, but so do two pieces. I should get a better reel for it now.

The terrestrial ecosystem overlaps and clashes with the aquatic system there, at the bank. It was mentioned that some aquatic prey species have part of their life cycle on land, and vice versa. Also some aquatic species need to emerge out of the water to molt. In some cases yes, a lot of food can fall in, and if you are there at the right time it can be a fire bite.

I caught two fish sight fish hair rig it was kind of amazing. One of em had one eye.

Maybe everyone is killin it summer peak just don't want to bring too much attention to our spots now?

For sure man, and the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will need to function optimally. I always have protein bars in my bag as a standard ration, don't always eat them but you never know when hunger will strike.

These are also my favorite topics, as you have written before they are a different fish and behave differently. I like topics where members give their theories about smallmouth behavior in big water; lakes or river.

Now what kind of leader material is necessary for a sky musky??

Where the water meets the land is always a special spot. Moreso if you have a deep pool, tributary, or other feature right there. 6-10' off the bank? I would consider that still the bank.

There can be plenty of craws in cinder blocks and pebbles to. Sometimes they just want a big boulder as structure to relate to. Even if the boulder dosent offer much else.

I had a good evening last week. Started with the white spinner, but it wasn't getting bit. Switched to a gold spinner, and convinced a smallmouth to bite. This river is not putting out quality smallmouth. The biggest I have gotten are keeper at best, and most would be considered dinks. Average size is not good. Found a spot with carp feeding...so I baited my spinner hook with a couple berries and dangled it over em... and one took it. Always such an epic battle with these things. I think I may have the carp itch again. Sadly, there is no cure. Carp went 27". I am making note to not touch their gills anymore. I reached in to gill it to bring it ashore and I think I damaged the gill, there was blood. I know how to properly hold a carp, I shouldn't be doing that anymore. Yes, there is a ton of carp and if that fish passes it doesn't really matter, but that is just not sporting, and it makes you feel like crap when you come home and wonder if you killed that fish. However if there is famine in the city I will be hauling those things out. I moved on and switched to the buzzbait. Really the only thing I can present with the slime and scum in some areas. Got a nice LM, 18", and another good one off the same spot. On the way back casted off the black/red buzzer, then put on a chart/white buzzer with a clackah guy and caught two more keeper lm to close out the evening.

@Zcoker, do you often run into other predatory fish species with your bass presentations?

More bass spinners

Awesome fish for sure. The snakehead is on my bucket list if and when I fish the Potomac with some cousins I have down there. How do the biologists of decades past cope with how well established these monsters have become? They are rolling in their graves, and the ones still alive, their hair has turned white.

So, is it true that this bait mimics goose feces?

Hmmm..so I have had some incidents of losing big sm on plopper style baits, that is, a bait that is rather compact and weighted for long casts..now adding o rings could help a bait like this get thrown less?

Be ready for the jump

Here are some examples. One is an old probably discontinued lure. The other I made over winter a couple years ago but it has never seen water.