MassBass

Reporting in, hit the river in perhaps its most urban stretch. Paddled out in a rental yak, and spent some time with a chatterbait but hauled water. Soon switched to a proven spinner. Hucked the spinner off the back of the yak for a quick troll, and bam smallie on and jumpin. Brought him in for the catch, photo, release. Continued on trolling and casting the inline. Came to a great bridge with an expanse of pillahs and switched to a rattlebait. Savage strike, fish on, then he jumped and threw the bait, then jumped again just for the heck of it! Made an adjustment and put new trebles on the rattlebait. Fished more and more pillahs, tried dropping and swimming a white grub around the pillahs, I was getting sunfish nibbles alot I reckon, but no solid bass takes. Put the rattlebait back on and bam landed a sm. Trolled back and landed a good white perch on the spinnah.

It is never a bad idea to try shallow. In my Winnipesaukee days (July/summer peak) I would see big smallies meandering right on the bank, where the the waves crash the rocks. These fish would be so shallow that most bass boat anglers fishing 'shallow' would not be shallow enough! The crayfish and bluegill were there. The waves hitting the rocks may have actually been dislodging treats of crayfish for the bass.

The issue is that the exceptionally big fish have the genetic potential to get that big. When you take out these big breeders either by harvest or mortality, the population loses the genetic diversity. It happened with the Cod in the Gulf of Maine. The codfish population lost their genetic diversity because of over harvest, now they are the size of trout. Will we ever see a world record smallmouth again?

Well I think the specie distribution can change overtime, even with North American native species. I believe the bowfin is native.

I like an 8' 6" heavy salmon/steelhead rod.

I have never caught one or seen one in MA or NH. We got the chain pickerel and little pickerels in the shallow warm swamps.

Ya man i feel you I am on a new home river and most of my luck is small keepers at best. It could just be that that is the prevailing biomass and there is nothing wrong with your effort. Look at the entire river system to, on a map and try to identify areas where there might be a different kind of biomass. As for froggin river sm, I would far prefer to fish exposed hook topwaters.

I understand this, as catch and release mortality is high with migratory stripers. But you are also kind of playing with fire when you are trying to unhook and photograph a striper that is still juiced and bucking. The biggest problem I think is delayed mortality so you or I will never really know if the released fish dies two days later from the stress. I take time to really nurse the fish when I release, don't just flop it back in the water. Hold it in the water with mouth open, flow water through the gills, then when it is really ready and starting to kick see it off. I have seen musky anglers release fish slowly like that to.

I feel this element of fishing, especially in bass fishing, is oversimplified and overlooked. There was a guy in The Classic that lost numerous winning caliber big bass- because of fish fighting errors. It was even egregious enough that Mr. Hite gave a lecture, albeit oversimplified. There is much more to this part of fishing than just 'you need to execute'. All your persistence in finding the location, the bait, the color, the pattern, etc. turns to dust if you make errors fighting and landing the fish- especially in a tournament. There will always be mechanics and mishaps that you need to work on. For example last week I had a decent fish hit a prop bait. I didn't rush the initial hook-set, the fish was on but swimming towards me. I kept firm resistance but with the fish swimming towards the boat the hooks didn't penetrate adequately and it was off in about three seconds. I knew immediately after; in that moment I should have lightly hammered a hookset while the fish was still holding the lure. Drag is crucial for fighting a fish. Drag setting is dynamic and I often adjust it in-fight and for each type of lure/hook. If that fish is going to run, it must be able to take line- or your line will snap, your hooks will pull and or bend, or, if you are really unprepared, your reel will be pulled off the rod seat! I have a bud who fishes big baits exclusively. His drag is always locked on big Daiwas. I have seen him lose some big bites because of hook pulls or bends during the fight. He goes back and thinks the hook points weren't perfect or something in the overall line/reel/rod rig was uncalibrated. That stuff is important, but imperfections can be compensated for by a properly adjusted drag that will give the fish line to run, and that may mean adjusting the drag in-fight. There are many more elements to discuss. I think having big game experience as an angler helps you to come into bass fishing with a respect and preparedness for the battle, especially when you get a big bite.

Looks awesome, the world of artificial baits for bass is a fun world to be in. Live bait will still have a place, for me it is ideal for fishing flood conditions.

Summer on the river usually multiple kinds of baits can catch the active bass, the question then becomes finding patterns of cover, current, and depth rather than patterns of bait choice.

Whats up guys I will share some pics of my spinners!

That is what I suspected. Unsure if it was an uncommon or out-of-place catch.

Caught this fish in Maine..know what it is?

I will play devil's advocate and say he wasted time. Only a line in the water will answer your questions. If you catch a couple yellow perch for example, that could help answer the question of what the bait is, and what the heck all the readings on your graph are. Now you see where the bait is and you can search more, for example a nearby deep dock that may be an ambush point for a bass. Fish, especially pressured bass can sense the sonar waves. Their guard fin goes up, they become wary, and they may not bite. That same fish, without any polluting vibrations like a motor or sonar, can have an inquisitive and aggressive response to the noise and vibration of a bait like a rattle trap.

Is anyone throwin giant worms weightless? I lile the bruiser baits brand they got some biggins.

Can anyone tell me what style/size the bigger clevis is in this image?

You need a diving crankbait box and a rattlebait box. With a diverse crankbait arsenal you can troll and cast and learn a lot about the water. This is power fishing/search fishing. I don't like either using electronics or the direction of electronics in the professional leagues.

Hey, I thought you guys might be interested in this report: The old dams on the Androscoggin stand as a relic of a by-gone time, when man sought to harness the strength of the untamed river. Beneath the dam the current was rushing fast. The water was white, with pools of bubbles and debris. They were there, the smallmouth. The water may have been chaotic but the bass were able to key in on topwater with precision. Fish were landed. Downstream from the immediate tailwaters the turbulence cooled off. Some smallmouth were caught off the treacherous rain moistened boulders. A river pickerel was caught in a current seam close to shore. On an island between two dams, the still and shallow pools would reveal a fish. The rain was increasing and more water was cascading over the looming dams. There were numerous smallmouth positioned in the first major slack downstream from the tailrace, littered with boulders and a sand bar. A great bass was caught in the immediate current as well. Deep in the foothills of central Maine lies a pond. Its depths are nearly unfathomable. A small party already positioned on the shore had not had luck this day. The water here was clear, clearer than vodka. Spider webs blanketed the ground and rare flowers bloomed between the pines. The overcast skies would persist, and a light wind emerged. Suddenly, action- a quality largemouth bass was brought in by each of us in short succession, each on opposite sides of the same fallen tree. It was a laydown on the edge of a shallow cove, separating the unknown depths from the warm marsh. There were more encounters with fish, but they proved elusive, retreating to the depths after striking. Fair weather fishermen don’t catch fish. Overcast with a cold drizzle pushed by a slight wind; conditions were perfect. We motored out into the lake. Largemouth were biting, hitting topwater baits in shallow water, with a preference for spots that had a combination of stumps, weeds, and main lake proximity. We came up with an idea to troll up to the other end of the lake to find similar shallow habitat. Some average bass were caught on the troll, and then it hit. Like every story of a true giant, they first think their bait is snagged on the bottom. I could feel the tail beat- it’s a fish! I knew it was a fish, but I could not bring it in. The captain motored over near it; it was something huge just staying on the bottom. With my fighting angle now right over the fish, I muscled it, and the 20lb test fluorocarbon leader broke like cheap floss. Soon after a big mass of weeds floated to the surface. A giant pike, maybe, had taken the lure and buried into the weeds like an anchor. Continuing the trolling tactic, we found more fish and encountered a deep weed line, where a 30-inch pike and various other quarry were landed. As the cold front stalled we motored off into the calm. On a clear and bright post-frontal day we set off to a vast lake named for the river that feeds it. The fair-weather wind blew hard, while a large snapping turtle perused the windblown rocks. The waves were turning into white caps. Continuing along the contour of the rocky bank we meandered into a small bay where some strikes were noted. Out from the bay, the strong northwest wind picked up again. Suddenly, we were trapped! With main lake white caps pinning us up against a bare windward bank, there was nowhere to go except straight into the wind allowing the bow of the boat to cut the great swells. The opposite side of the lake was calmer. While exploring an inlet to the lake some good largemouth were pulled from the shallow structure. Stiff emergent grass lined the edge of the shallows but it did not show many fish. A spot was found with bass fry, having hatched days earlier, and a largemouth, perhaps the male still guarding the fry, was caught and released. Towards the end of the day a vibrant patterned smallmouth was brought to the boat, near a small shallow rock shoal. By the end of the day the wind had settled to a breeze. Towards the end of the day we launched into a pond known for its bass. Having been there before, we still brought an open mind to the outing. Reaching the pinnacle of a windblown island corner, a small smallmouth was brought in on a tube lure. Working in around the island some very big smallmouth showed as followers or short-strikers, but did not connect. The sun was on its way down and we were floating in relation to a wind chopped main lake bank. A fish struck at a large swimbait, leading us to continue with the current boat position pattern. I gave a tube jig a go, and soon found myself with a big smallie on the line. More large smallies were hauled in by the both of us, as well as some solid Maine largemouth. The sun declined and the biting moths emerged, and we were gone by sunset. MB

That is the exact musky doc that I lost two years ago up the Merrimack must a drifted down to you

The river has been hot for multiple species. White perch, small sm, and a good LM yesterday. The pike is biologically similar to the pickerel, yes. However they have slightly different reactions to lures and presentations. Pike will follow up and not bite more often than pickerel. Keep an eye for a following fish. I can't recommend a sure way to trigger a follow but it certainly proves that your spot is a pike hole.

That thing looks like a giant trevally! good point about river fish vs. Lake fish; but I would add that in really big lakes, sm swim a lot and can have a physique comparable to river fish.

I feared this day would come.

Anybody have any luck with striped bass to report? I had a decent evening last weekend with 2 keeper LM, dink LM, YP, and WP. I have seen herring activity but the striper remains elusive.

Also you can get a crankbait down deeper on the troll than you ever could by casting.