basslayingbeezy

Went out onto the Penobscot River today and caught my first river smallie!!! 2.02 lbs, not huge but healthy and a great fight...kept getting snagged on rocks using a double tail YUM grub on a jighead and at first I thought this was just another snag until I reeled in and it jumped! And yeah it's bleeding, hooked it in the intestine but suprisingly after catching and releasing it seemed to do a final kick and swim away after questionably not swimming immdediately =( I'm a strong advocate of catching and releasing and it's the worst feeling ever to potentially lose a fish because of a crazy deep hookset...but we trolled past where we released it at and didn't see it floating so we are hopeful that it made it =)

Oh a wonderful charter boat out of Ogunquit <sp!>...called the Bunny Clark, google them they have a great website with a recent fishing log...they offer both half day and full day trips, we went on the full day one which was about 4 hours out. I highly suggest this boat, the crew is amazing and they definitely know where the fish are!

Finally upped my PB largemouth!!! Went out yesterday and caught this 3.8 lber in the middle of the lake along a rocky ledge! The fishfinder has become sooo useful for finding deep water structure/fish that we would have never even known was there. Caught on a newly discovered "flickin" rig-which is just a wacky rigged rubber worm on a jighead - my first time using this rig and I'm already hooked!

Caught this 2.04 lb largemouth a few days ago at our favorite spot in a shady spot along some fallen timber.

LOL - Big O, when you first humbly responded with the four foot tall comment I went running into the room to exclaim to ICU that you were a small bodied person like myself and you still caught monsters and maybe they weren't as big as we thought cuz you were so small! lol. Then ICU totally burst my bubble and exposed the sarcasm to me. But seriously it's really cool that we have this resource and community to be a part of, regardless of race, gender or location - we're all after the same things: bass! And Big-O, just as much as I idolize chefs that I aspire to cook amongst as my potential career choice, I aspire to catch bass as large as the ones you have caught. It is truly an inspiration to see raw evidence that when you match the hatch and have the right techniques, you can really catch some amazing fish. <3 x o

So proud of you babe! Was so cool to see you catch such a beast. I couldn't stop repeating "that's the biggest bass I've ever seen!" lol.

Thanks girll!! We are a rare breed!!

And then caught this little dink on a less productive night out.

Thank you! I did weight it, was 2.82 lbs, still my personal best!

Went out to our new favorite spot a couple of nights ago and almost consecutively caught these two largemouths pretty early on in our trip. Very good for morale even though they weren't anything like the 4.2 lber ICU caught last night! First fish was a solid two and half lbs if I'm remembering correctly, and second one was just under two lbs.

So the past two or thee consecutive trips out, I have totally skunked. Like, not even so much as a hook set on a blue gill. We went out last night to the newest pond we've discovered largemouth in and I fished a white curly tail grub in a drop shot rig for the first time. I read the "Always Lucky" article here so between that and the fish I've been seeing the bf catch on one, we decided it was time we rigged one up on my rod. My first cast out in some 14 foot water around some structure we spotted with the finder, I jigged the heck outta that grub and booooooooom, I get a strike that is unmistakenly a strong bass. Kept my line taut, my tip down, and reeled like hell. With the help of ICU on the net, I was able to bring the fish in. Looked bigger than my PB smallie but was over a half a pound shy. Still good to catch a bass! 2.16 lbs. Was so excited forgot to measure it lol.

Omg Big O thanks for the reply!!! Holy hell look at the friggin beast you just caught!!!! <picks jaw up off the floor> THAT is what I aspire to catch one day holy crap that much be such a fight!! Thank you so much for the advice, that helps a lot. Just trying to understand what is going on beneath the surface of the water helps immensely when it comes to knowing when to set the hook IMO so far. I can't get over the fish you catch!! Half the time I assume I'm just snagged and the only times I tend to actually set a hook is when I think a fish (typically bass as opposed to pickerel which there are also a lot of around here but that I like a lot less b/c of the lesser fight), inhales the worm deeply and I can really feel a tug tug tug type of movement then I just yank back real hard and keep my line tight...but I feel like I also lose a lot of sets because I'm not ever entirely sure when I'm getting a bite or if I'm just snagged on weeds. Either way, I'm extremely thankful for having this site as a resource because even in the short time I've been a member here, I have learned a lot of valuable logistics to fishing this infamous species. Thank you so much once again for the tips and I wish I had more hours in my day to read all the articles and posts!

I have completely skunked the past two or three times we've gone out - I selfishly blame that on the fact that I've been working a lot which makes for a slightly grouchy and impatient version of myself...and I know that sooo much of successful fishing consists around the ability to be patient and slow in your retrieve. Tonight I was advised by a local to hit up a 400+ acre pond-pretty darn tiny and definitely shallow. Deepest part of the pond was 14 feet; but I checked out the survey map before we went and there was a spot between two islands that had a drop from 4 feet deep to 14 feet so we mainly targeted that area and it wasn't hard to find on such a small body of water. We both weren't expecting this pond to be very productive and it was our very first time there so we weren't exactly sure what the the outcome was going to be. I fished with my usual Texas rigged with a bullet weight, wide gap hook, and dark brown Zoom Curly Tail. Got quite a few bites but wasn't able to set anything-that's for sure the hardest part about fishing for me knowing just the right time to pull back and set the hook. So anyways, we were out til the sunset turned deep pink and then fell over the treeline but he ended catching three largemouth total and I caught this one little 1.1 lb dink. Still felt good to catch one though!

ahahha he is my main motivation for going out fishing =) Moved here with him. We should all go fishing sometime if one of our boats will hold three or four people? Be fun to have some beers and go on a smallmouth mission!

Man, I wanna catch like a 12 pounder on a Huddleston someday!

That day was a memorable one for sure. It was a total of 8 hours on the boat, seas were rough, it was spring. Woke up at the crack of dawn to travel down (sitting in the middle of course) to this charter boat. Took Drammamine but apparently not soon enough because about two hours into the trip, my McDonald's breakfast came out in the form of fish food and I was down below sweating and fighting nausea until hour 6 when I finally managed to make it on deck. Sat down next to ICU812, who had been catching lots of Cod, Pollock and Cusk himself; took his rig, jigged it a few times then BOOOMMM I got struck and ended up pulling this beast out. Then I went back down below deck after the captain took a picture and felt sick again. Immediately after I wasn't sure all that sickness was worth it but after a bit longer of remembering that fight, it was.

Hey thanks guys for the replies! For awhile, I was only targeting largemouth because I was being hella bias but when I caught my first smallie I couldn't really feel much of a difference in terms of fight so since I'm in Maine where the smallmouth fishing is supposedly infamous, THAT is exactly what I'm going to be targeting from now on. @ Endless: hell yeah man that's cool you read read his posts! We went out last night and I totally skunked, couldn't set a hook for the life of me! But it's those times that you don't catch anything that make it soooo worth it when you finally do. I despise when he catches more fish than me which is like 99% of the time lol.

This is obviously not a bass or even in freshwater but thought I'd share anyways. Never felt a fight like this before, I'll tell you that much! Seriously thought I was snagged on the bottom of the ocean and I literally could only reel in inches at a time it was such a battle. I was jigging raw clam I believe on a bait-casting reel/rod. Was out on a guided charter boat off the Atlantic coast in southern Maine.

Caught this hawg from shore on my second cast on a Texas rigged dark brown 5" finesse worm. Didn't have the scale or tape measure with us - DOH! But this felt like a lunker, could barely reel it it and was for sure the biggest Largemouth I've ever caught.

JUST as I was about to give up for the evening, thinking that I skunked, as I was reeling in - discouraged as hell and right by the boat - BOOOOOM! I get a forceful strike and my rod is bent down so far I think it may break. I hear my drag whizzing as the fish starts to go under the boat...keeping my tip up as much as I can and reeling like a madwoman, with the help of my man (ICU812) I was able to net the beast and take some memorable pictures of my PB. Caught on a Watermelon Orange floating Zoom finesse worm in a Texas rig. I love fishing with Texas/Carolina rigs because it takes practically no time to change your worm without having to completely re-rig. Slow retrieve with jerky twitches every few feet.