MassBass

I hate to bring the thread down this path again... but it is tragic to the specie to lose that fish. The Chinese Paddlefish has recently been officially declared extinct, and its American cousin here is on thin ice.

I had some action today. My most local stretch of river; had a solid bite right away, knew it was big, she starts jumping, one jump, two jump, and I lost her. Maybe about a 3lber, which is in my experience here a very good fish. Then stuck a smaller bass in the immediate area. Moved on, yellow perch following, and caught one. The geese were on eggs, and they are very defensive of them. Caught another YP at the next bridge. I wasn't going to march very far today so I would start circling back the other bank. I thoroughly tried a stretch that I usually skip, and it still didn't produce except for some perch follows. At the next bridge, I tied on a blade bait. Stuck a bass on the blade bait near the shallow concrete edge. I would try again the spot where I had the first bite, but the conditions had suddenly changed from dark clouds and breeze to bluebird and calm, so I didn't get a second chance. That was that.

What vendor do you use for the daiwa rods?

I am looking to enhance my urban mobility and I think having a telescopic outfit would be nice. Right now I am looking at bps, because I have a chunk of change in a card for them- the Bass Pro Shops Aventur1 Telescopic Casting Travel Rod. Of course I do not want to invest in a telescopic if it is a hassle, so I will gladly take recommendations for higher end brands, if you have had a positive experience with such brands.

Thats a real legend right there for these parts. From a trout stocked pond?

Oh. Yes I see the patches of red skin. On closer inspection, if you don't focus on the size- that fish is highly stressed. There is a very convincing narrative in the article about how the fish was released. I don't want to bash the angler and the biologist, so I will just leave it there.

Those are all diving plugs. I would recommend some top water plugs as well; poppers, walkbaits, pencil poppers.

No one knows for sure if that fish is dead now. Not even the most lunatic musky hunters. I did see a different source about this story, see the little gray box behind the guys holding the fish? The fish was put in that box to be weighed, and it looked very awkward for a big long esox.

I can report from my first open water outing, local river, from bank. I Started with a gold/white spinner that I had made over winter. I started at a concrete pipe that still had a small trickle from the rain the day prior. I had a small fish short strike, and on the upstream side of the pipe, another short strike from an ID'd LM. No more activity there so I continued downstream on my planned route. I came to an area that many years ago was a beach on the Charles, but it was very flat and shallow. Followed it out into a more marshy area (albeit all natural marsh features were filled in centuries ago) and tried for luck. By now the wind had turned into a bitter blast and the bright sky had turned dark. I snagged my spinner and broke off on a shallow parallel cast. Sat down and tied on a blade bait. On my way back I was hucking the blade bait in an area that looked more pleasant, and had something grab the lure and move with it and then come off in a great swirl. That was intriguing. Then I reached a bridge which was the spot I had in mind when I tied on the blade bait. Tried afew casts and retrieves. Then had something hit. Starts ripping drag, shaking, and ripping more drag. Took me a little bit to realize this is something very big. I bring it in and it is a carp foul hooked in the tail. Landed it and photographed it. A good way to get excited on the first outing! Shortly after that I had a good bass follow, but quickly turn away. Then I got my bait hopelessly tangled in a stick with string on it. So much junk in that river. My fingers were too cold to deal with that, so that was it for me today.

I also enjoyed that forum; back around 2013. It did get kind of out of hand with a troll and slow traffic, so I turned away.

What if I suggested an 8' 6" medium steelhead casting rod, 2 piece.

Far to the north there is a lake, a lake of champagne! Hehe

In my one year and a day there, I have caught zero pickerel or any Esox. I may dust off the carp tackle and try for some in '22, I have seen them hither and thither.

I would consider that fast action this time of season! I went to the river Charles yesterday, I had a yellow perch show as a follow early on with a blade bait; so then I had high hopes for a fast perch bite, but that was not to be. I had another fish show as a follow, looked like a river herring? Tried two different colors of blade bait and some spinners. Tide was unfavorable, and I don't think the flow was high either. I tend to do best when the river is high tide and full. They might also wonder if the fish was brought in from Georgia??

Holy smokes it was warm today, this can't be normal? Back up north Haverhill/Lawrence you used to be able to rely on safe ice by the new year, I say that and I'm not even that old. The ice sculptures didn't even make it past 8 o'clock last night. I might have to go fish open water tomorrow if it is going to be the same weather. I have some new blade baits to try. Anyone capitalize on this weather and conditions?

I wouldn't get too carried away with barbless hooks and even singles to. Barbless is a good idea in theory, but especially with bigger fish that move more deliberately, that fish can make a turn and then it is off, fish lost. If the spinner bite is hot you will get many taps and bites that don't connect- and that is with trebles. It could get frustrating if you are getting bites without hook ups when you are using a single, might make you think it would be better with a treble.

Glow fish

Try twitch twitch pause, twitch twitch pause...every time; just experiment with the length of the pause. Deadly early to late spring bait.

yeah, but possibly, I think if there are friends of a buddy, and 'ice fishing' is walking out onto the lake with a sled of beer, then you have a situation where there is a mess of guys on the lake, someone drives by the lake and says, 'wow, look at all the ice fisherman', when in reality only a small amount of them are serious about bringing fish to the hole and actually own the gear.

You could compare a new snowmobile to your new aluminum bass boat. Look at the ease of access for open water fishing compared to ice fishing; the great barrier is getting through the ice. You must have the adequate equipment to do that, or you would have a better time skiing. Chisels are useless in thick ice, and I think they fry your shoulders. Even lugging the gas auger from hole to hole to hole can be hard, but it is all necessary to even get a line in.

Hey, ice fisherman here, been going since very young. I have caught landlocked salmon, pike, bass, and copious perch and pickerel. I am a trap guy. Jigging is secondary, when all the traps are set up and there is some time without flags. Jigging is great for yellow perch, but the big esocoid or largemouth will most likely come on a trap. I used to drink heavily on the ice, some good times but the past few years I don't drink. Now a lip of long cut dip, that is nice on the ice. Copious water and tea. There is always a question of whether you should move or stay in a spread. If you have 5 traps set, it is a lot of work to pack up, move everything. Ideally you want to get some signs from the traps. If the flag near the shallow bay keeps going off, it may be worth it to drill a hole or two in the bay and move a deep trap shallow, for example. Sometimes waiting can pay off, by moving the minnow up or down in the same hole. It is a lot of work and a lot of gear. I am not sure where the notion that ice fishing is cheap came from; a bucket of traps, a gas auger, live bait, Jigging rod, tackle and accessories, you are looking at a hefty price tag to get into it successfully.

I don't wade my local river because of heroin/fentanyl/some other drug needles. I have skipped over spots because there are just too many needles. If you are going waist high in any kind of tidal current you are asking for trouble.

Gold and copper stamped blade. Not too glamorous but they will catch

Just reading some reviews for different brands on the retail websites, it sounds like a dynamite multi-specie bait. I have high hopes now that it will be good for white perch and schoolie striper, maybe shad? I am still searching for a magic shad bait, in the first of spring.

This is why I am so interested in the bait, it is totally my style. Even compared to a hair jig and/or float and fly, when you can feel the vibration of the bait and fish it actively, it is much more engaging and fun. And if you are fully engaged you are usually confident, and the whole confidence catches fish thing. Anyone throwing the Steelshad blade bait? If I was going to make a small starter box of blade baits, should I go to BPS or TW?