je1946

Use fresh fish. Some people think that the best bait is foul smelling old fish or chicken. WRONG Only use fresh smelling bait, crawfish do not like foul smelling bait. FRESH ONLY

Motorguide 82# digital tour. Have one on my Lund which is a big wide boat. I have never regretted spending the extra $$ on that motor and neither will you. You can never have enough trolling motor. NEVER

I ordered a bunch of non lead jigs from Mike Siebert of Siebert outdoors. The jigs were very well made with gd strong hooks at a reasonable price. Give him a shout, no disappointments.

Find an older Shimano Citica I will very highly recommend a 200D you'll be very happy to start with that reel, they are readily available and are reasonably inexpensive. I started my kids on those reels and they loved them. One of my boys still says it was one of the best reels he ever owned.

Blades, lipless cranks, jerkbaits. In that order.

Way to go Bob. That pond is the first spot my dad and I started fishing smallies 30 yrs ago. We used a canoe and had to park down the road. Gd to hear it's as gd now as it was then.

Returned from a 5 day vaca to Annabessacook, not too much time fishing as time was with family and friends. We caught mostly all largies fishing early morning and after dinner in the evening. Most fish caught on senkos and tubes nothing big, one over 4lbs with a few others in the 3lb range. If your in a canoe of yak be very careful with storms they come up quickly and can be violent. Lots of gd lakes and ponds in So. Maine, go to fish and wildlife web sight they list most of the waters and which species are in them, also list access. Enjoy your trip. also be aware if your using any type of motor you'll need a sticker for weeds.

Darn nice fish for this part of the country, actually, nice fish for anywhere in this country.

Granite state rod and reel, in Nashua, NH. Joe Catalano been doing reels forever, highly recommend him 603 880-6031

Nice tank. Congrats, hard work and persistence usually pay off.

I like to fill the Paca Craw with sponge material or pipe insulation soaked in megastrike

I was stationed in Mayport many yrs ago, and had the same problem. My friend and I used to rent a boat and trailer on the base and pull it down to Palatka to fish the St Johns River, very gd bass and crappie fishing. If this is not an option you could find local bass clubs and inquire about boaters who would be willing to take you out fishing. Also take a look at some of the local golf courses, make sure you ask for permission. Thank you for your service to our country.

As Montanaro said, Mustad Denny Brauer. Very strong hook with a gd keeper. I snell it.

I've seen some big bass caught on live frogs.

Back to the Quabbin again today, thru the pass to Russ Mtn, fishing the shallow flats, beds everywhere but not a lot of fish on them, water temps back to high 50s to low 60s stiff cold breeze making conditions tough so back inside to warmer water. We managed about 8-10 smallies on tubes, and spinner baits but the bite was tough all day, biggest about 3lbs.

Dobyns not selling? I'm far from an expert on fishing rods but I own 3 Dobyns and have had no issues with any of them. Gd luck with your new rod and reel.

Back to the Quabbin today. Tough fishing with post frontal conditions(at least thats my excuse) 10 fish up to 3.5 lbs. Strong cold northerly breeze for most of the morning, so the usual haunts were very sparse of fish with water temps falling back to 52 degrees, so it was off to warmer water where we played run and gun with tubes, spinner baits and jerkbaits we found a lot of empty beds in the warmer water but managed some takers. Talked to a couple of other bass guys at the ramp one said he caught 15 with finess baits his biggest was a little over 4lbs. .

Was there on Monday also gate 43 about the same as you 12-14 smallies 2 over 5lbs, no sign of spawning all the fish we caught had no tails torn up and we didn't see any beds. caught all our fish on jerkbaits spinnerbaits and bladebaits biggest coming out of 15 to 25ft jerkbait fish were right up tight to the banks.water temps ran from 53 to 65 degrees depending on location. Had some trailer issues and its at the shop getting some welding done if I get it back by tomorrow I'll be there on Thurs.

Fish came on Jerkbaits, Spinnerbaits, and Bladebaits, one smaller fish on a tube. Three of the four came out of 15 to 25 ft of water, and one of the fours up close to shore. Not much show of spawn inspite of the water temps 54 to 65 degrees and none of the fish had their tails torn up from fanning out nest. sent u a PM

Out to Quabbin yesterday Gate 43 total of probably 14 smallies with a 5 fish bag pushing 23lbs, 2 over 5 couple of 4s and 2-3 over 3lbs water temps 55 to 65 degrees depending on your location. I have the pics if someone wants to post them up for me because I don't have a clue.

That surely is bad news. My thoughts are with you and it can only get better from here.

Be very careful if you do Arrowhead, make sure you have a GPS and know how to use it, so many coves and inlets very easy to get lost. I fished it with a friend last yr and did well, but at the end of the day he looked at me and asked"which way is out", I pointed to a direction, he chuckled and went totally in a different direction.

Go to Maine Dept of fisheries web site and they list almost all of their lakes by county, a lot of gd water in that area, Mousam, Great East, Auburn, Moose, are just a few.

Dogbone take what Grandpa is telling you and run with it. Yesterday at Quabbin we had caught a few fish with what I normally catch them on this time of yr jerkbaits and jigs, ah but yesterday we couldn't get them to really turn on UNTIL I noticed water temps at 49degrees out came the blade baits, now mind you I have NEVER caught a fish on a blade bait, within 5 cast I had a real nice smallie on and so it went for the rest of the day total about 16 smallies boated and probably lost another 5-6 fish. Now if I had gone by previous outings and left that bait in my tackle box I would probably not of had a very productive day. Pick a bait that you know will catch fish, say a black jig with a black trailer read, and ask other fishermen all you can about fishing it then go out and use it and use it and use it, once you develope confidence in it move to another bait and so on. You do have the mojo just have to learn how to use it. gd luck q

Fished Quabbin yesterday, 16 smallies running to 4.2lbs on blades and jerk baits, water temps 49 to 53 degrees, no sign of spawning but with water temps rising quickly can't be far off.