Smokinal

^^^Wow, you had a banner day for sure. I went out Sunday and, like you, had some rippin winds straight out of the south up the lake. I had 52 degree water. I'm still fishing this early pattern in a shallow cove with a jerkbait and the bite was still on for sure. I caught 44 bass and about 10-15 huge pie-plate crappie; all in about 5 hrs. It was absolutely stupid how good the bite was. Nothing for size but I like having a numbers day like that. All were 1.5-2.5 lbs. Tried to load some pics but Photobucket has been having problems for a while now. Anyone use anybody else for photo storing and sharing?

Went out again yesterday. The jerkbait was the ticket but I had to try the swimmer again. Water was at 52 this time and I rigged it texas style this time with same results. Rechecked my rigging twice as it just doesn't swim at slow rpm. I'm done with those. Anyone wanna trade me some Keitechs for them?

.... a 2oz glide bait and a BBZ40 rat? Maybe an A-Rig? My hesitation is that it's a Mod action, which I like for the treble hook baits but is that OK for heaving a 2oz bait? http://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/fishing/rods|/pc/105591780/c/105740280/sc/105742080/abu-garcia-veracity-rods/2004744.uts

^^^Very nice B8Caster. Ya, it's pretty cool catching good trout by accident while bass fishing. I usually catch 1-2 in the spring and 1-2 in the fall; when we start fishing shallow with jerkbaits. In fact, this year, on my first day out, I had a really nice brookie right beside the boat. It freaked out, did a ton of alligator rolls and got off; looked to be in the 20-22" range. Glad to hear you had a good first day!

There was a post just like OP's about a year ago. Some kid claiming a friend was doing the exact same thing.

Never thought of that! Sweet tip! Thank you

I thought I'd link this here too

Finally got some soft water to launch in. Went out on 4-23. Ice had been out for a week but weather had been cold and rainy. Wasn't expecting much for temp; water was 42. Air started at 36 and went up to around 55 by 1-2pm. We fished from 6 to 11 but the bite shut right off as soon as the morning cloud cover burned off. I ended up getting 41 and my buddy with me caught 36. All on the jerkbait. This is a very typical pattern for this water just after ice-out. Not sure if it's bad luck or not but I caught one on my first cast of the year! Here's an edited vid of some of the catches early in the day when the bite was best and before the gopro battery ran out.

Maine had a season up until a few years ago. Actually, there still is an off-season I believe for trout and salmon but now bass can be targeted in open water, any time of year, catch and release.

Put a dap of super glue on it where it meets the hook if it does pull down.

I know a couple guys fishing it too. Give us a report!

Not me; I work Saturday and my son's last college double header is Sunday so I want to catch that. Ive got my name all over next Sunday though!

I got my first glide bait this year so I've been watching vids, reading etc. but I haven't heard much about water temps to throw them in. Are there any suggestions for temps that they work best in? Temps they really don't work in?

I appreciate the tips but have to reiterate that I was using the same exact setup, rigged the same exact way as I always have, and the swim was different for me. I'll definitely try them again but my first impression isn't good. I will report back with how my 2nd attempt goes.

Glad to see I'm not the only one. I will definitely try them again and on a different rig to see if that changes anything. If not, I'll contact that cat in the swap/sell section who we all thought was crazy for wanting to trade 1 pack of keitechs for 2-3 packs of Swimmers...

Very nice! I got my first glide bait this year too. Haven't thrown it yet but can't wait to feel my rod load knowing it should be a giant.

I went out yesterday for the first time this year; stung some lips; great day on the jerbait. But I like to throw a swimbait as well and have been using the Keitech with good success. Naturally, as the Rage lover that I am, I couldn't wait to get my hands on some swimmers; which I did and I did throw yesterday too. I threw them on my usual VMC hook found here: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/VMC_Ike_Approved_Heavy_Duty_Weighted_Swimbait_Hooks_4pk/descpage-VMCHWSB.html?gclid=CL3_5LmtvtMCFdtXDQodZmALjQ I used the same hook I always do, same rod, line, reel and same boots I always wear in the spring and I couldn't get the tail to wag unless I was really burning it, which I didn't want to do. Now the water was only 42 which I thought may have hardened up the bait but I always throw a Keitech in the same water and it swims nice at any speed. Am I doing something wrong? I hate to bash the line I love so much but I'm not one to flock with the sheep if I didn't see it that way.

11 for 5 on Cobb is shocking! I would have thought in the high teens. I know a couple guys who grab some giants every spring in there. I was out yesterday and beat the bejeeses outta them from 6 to about 9. Then the cloud cover cleared, sun came out and it shut right down. I'll be posing a report as soon as I get vid edited.

It's all good brother. I wanted to read it more than once anyway

Lens color has more to do with light transmittance than anything but can have some affect on contrast as well. Its hard to get one color to be perfect for all conditions as one color will enhance vision on cloudy days but be not enough on sunny days. I'm sure you can find one that would be acceptable in all. http://www.evo.com/oakley-sunglasses-lens-tint-guide.aspx http://uk.oakley.com/lens-guide And I don't work for Oakley, I just have some of their products and used these charts as guides when I bought. I went with the Oakley Twenty in Fire Iridium. But the color guides will be the same for all brands.

I hadn't heard that anything official even passed?!

Congrats northern bro!

You're not missing a thing. I, too, thought I had to try it because all the cool kids were using it. I got tired of bringing the rods inside the house the night before, spraying the spools the night before, tucking them in at night, spraying them 43.7 minutes before using them, having to troll the line out every 17 casts etc etc etc... All the rituals you have to go through just to use this stuff is unbelievable. And to top it all off I don't think I got a good hookset on a single jig fish because the stuff is like a rubber band. "Oh but fluoro is low stretch"... lmao I tore it all off and went back to braid/fluoro leader on everything and back to catching fish. The only thing that stuff is good for is leader material.

Wow BassMan you guys got on em!! Good to see!

Everyone above has given great info so I won't repeat anything already said. What I will add is to be practicing with a 1/2 oz lipless crankbait. There's something about that bait that just makes them cast well on a baitcaster. Probably one of the easiest baits to throw. Keep at it; you'll get it.