wbassrogue

Im in the far west of the state, my buddy is out east near boston, we meet up in the middle of the state to fish often, ive fished mattawa, barton cove, the ct river. lots of ponds around the orange athol area, would prefer something w/o a ton of boat traffic, a hidden gem? something off of route 2 is best, any tips would be appreciated. (i have a small boat, 8' with a trolling motor, so something I can launch that in, its essentially a car top boat.)

location: new england(mass) water conditions, gin clear, 15+ft visibility air temp 75-80 water temp, guessing around mid 60s. sky mixed/sunny little to no aquatic vegetation, depth 7'-20' ft some stumps, rocks etc. I went here once last year for smallmouth, but ended up running into a few lm at the end. its a very different body of water than i am accustomed to fishing(lilys,shallow ponds,milfoil/grass. and its a haul from me relatively speaking. i have no fish finder. thank you!

yeah bombing from shore, something moving..but of the bass ive caught id say only a handful have been taken from over 15 yards...5 out of 100? maybe not even that. on the other hand, from shore my best fish have sometimes came from underneath my feet virtually, fishing ledges etc.

i understand in a tournament setting,covering water etc..it makes sense. i dont fish tournaments, but going back it seems the vast majority of bass i catch are within 15 yards of the yak/canoe/boat its entirely possible I am missing strikes on long casts, or coincidence. i should say i almost never fish topwater, unless you count dragging over pads. whats everyone else experience with long casts?

well i would only be making short distance casts 10-15 yards, i should probably articulate what I am trying to say better. I want a rod casting rod that loads nice w/o having to put on a heavy lure, maybe closer to composite than straight graphite. russ, thanks for the response, i have a vengeance, not a vendetta which i think is a step up(not certain) as far as backbone i meant something stout enough for me to stress the rod and not break it, closer to the medium side of medium heavy with a nice taper. thanks again!

Hey all looking for a rod for a casting setup, i just picked up a speed demon to replace an old accurist baitcaster ive had forever. the accurist was on a pool cue/field and stream im7 dicks special, its probably close to a decade old, and only 6' baitcaster has always been a secondary for me, i almost always fish out of either a canoe or kayak so sitting casts are what I am working with 98% of the time. im looking for a rod that can throw light lures into heavier cover/structure(maybe things down to 1/8 3/16oz) but something with enough backbone to pull them out. I have spinning rigs for smaller presentation, but they arent equipped to handle anything that gets down into the weeds/timber. i have a vengeance spinning rod which i have been using, as my better rods are broken,id like something that slots above the shock/vengeance that, my price point is about 70. i see a lot of piscifun/kastking rods that are feature packed but outside amazon reviews i dont see many mentions here for them.(which gives me pause) for reference I have fished two casting rods for the last decade plus one 7' berkely mh or could be heavy lighting rod(i find it to be way too stiff and the aforementioned field and stream im7 which while a foot shorter, still loads weird on casting, im sure part of that is a function of length/action. in layman's terms im looking for a rod that loads really nice on casting slightly smaller lures than typical casting rods.(relative to price point!) thank you!

muy grub to be exact i was throwing ikas, and hollow body swimbaits this sat and nothing was biting,as a last ditch effort i switched to a smoked red black fleck muy grub on a 3/0 wide gap and a 1/16th oz bullet sinker i got one really hard strike and a few casts later i got my bass of the year just as we were heading in. saved me from being skunked. i dont give much thought to the humble grub, but i certainly will from now on.. anyone else digging the t-rigged grubs?

i started fishing the kreatures this year, and on my ml spinning outfit they just pulled weird, they didnt seem to have a discernible action i felt in the water, i read somewhere it was like pulling a clump of weeds thru the water. i clipped the appendages off, as ive had luck with ikas, but was always looking for a thinner profile. ive mixed and matched tops off ikas and made "ghetto" ikas with half a senko and a skirt..

same..i dont know what it is i suppose i dont fish them often and when i do i do not keep them on long...it seems like i throw them when nothing is catching fish..and they confirm it when the bite is good, its the last thing i want to throw on. I know others who have great luck with em. thats fishing

yamamoto kreatures with the appendages snipped off ive had good luck with.

its been a mediocre year for me, from the bank or from the water. ran into a nice pike but no size on bass yet, a couple close to 2lbs..I can honestly say i havent had a double digit day yet. bass is tough in MASS.

heya wees im over in the berkshires, I havent tried those ponds..stinks that they are private, always looking for some small ponds to fish.

i was thinking of putting some backing on the reel, something soft like perhaps a layer of duct tape I am constanly having to adjust my reel seat on the st. croix mojo bass..Im sure im not the 1st, i can tighten it but it will not stay like that for long. any old tricks?

thanks all for the replies!from what i gather the consensus is pretty much purchase the best shimano i can afford? will it be close in quality to the PTI catalyst? ive worked that reel for 3+ years and while it isnt as pretty as it once was it is performing great with basic maitenance. ive used it for ~200 outings. its just too heavy for this setup and fatiguing to krank(i mostly fish out of kayak these days, and getting older(34) reeling becomes a chore after rowing alot) zero limit: what are your thoughts on the mojo reel seat?

op on Mojo Bass(owned for 5 hrs)..D not like the reel seat at all,didnt seem to want to stay tight. Love the action/sensitivity of the blank...jury is out on that reel seat.

Hey all Well i picked up a 7' Mojo Bass for the new season here, the problem I am running into is, my quantum catalyst PTI(its the size 40) is much too big for this blank thru design, i had that one mated to a BPS Extreme, and will probably put that back on. In the interim I have a sahara 750fb which is great but it is too small for the 10lb test line i fish. so Im looking for a spinning reel thats in between,preferably lightweight and not throwaway.. close to the $100 price point. the mojo is the tube/grub...i basically throw all type of soft plastics with it.. what do you guys and gals think ?? show me the way

it must be in my head then ,it was a very tough spring here in MA for me :S

ive had a bps extreme rod for 3 years as my go to,i fished the hell out of it, 150+outings.It has served me wonderfully, I dont if its my age, but it just doesnt seem as sensitive as it once was..i do basic maitenance, guides are straight, fresh line,greased reel. Im wondering I guess if there is a point where rods from being fatigued lose some of their touch? Or is this all in my head?

i have one,it has isssues running true.. looks like a fish killer when its moving thru the water but i havent caught anything on it(to be fair ive only fished it maybe 1 hour in total)

cool, what did you think of the plastic? was more like a yum or strike king or closer to a yamamoto in feel? im gonna order a couple packages ..

http://www.***.com/Damiki_Hydra_8pk/descpage-DHYD.html look interesting, not familiar with this company, or thier plastics but these caught my attention. anyone had a chance to try em?

ive used circle hooks for wacky rigs with the 4" senko i hate gut hooking fish too

Hey Lao, im up in clarksburg what are your thoughts on nose hooking them? or..alternately...a non fat ika..(like those 3")

they dont fit exactly, the ika get distended and stretched ive tried very briefly nose hooking them. im using yozuri reg hybrid in 10lb and 14lb fireline on another rod. i havent used them exclusively on the gamas, ive tried alot of different hooks,it seems some are too short, too narrow..as like the monster..just too big. Ill have to give those owners a try in the 4/0

i been using the ikas on the gama 5/0 ewg "monster" hooks..maybe thats my trouble. What dont you like about the kreature? Ive never fished one, i did order some tho. i mainly fish small ponds in the northeast, some are very heavily pressured, alot of guys are throwing senkos or knockoffs of senkos, so im trying to give the fish a different look.