MainelyBASS

It's a Cabelas Go to Swimbait for sure.

Planning a vacation in the Waddington area in September to fish the river for smallmouth. Any tips on where to stay, what not to do, or what to definitely do would be greatly appreciated. I am towing my boat over from Maine. Any info will be a huge help. Thanks in advance!

Im wrong now that I look at it closely. Sorry

Could be a Big Bite Baits Sugar Cane worm, but I would have to see what the bottom of the worm looks like (the side that's sitting on your palm).

Humminbird 899 SI transom bracket snapped off, not sure how but its irrelevant at this point. Cant find one locally before my tournament on Sunday. Im sure its possible but id like to hear from someone maybe who has done it. Maybe some galvanized brackets from a hardware store?

In dire need of a few things before Sundays tournament and I cant get on TW. Webiste seems to be down. They are the only ones I know that can ship overnight for $10? Anything else out there?

Thanks for your encouraging words guys. Im clueless as to what happened to her. The fuse that the marina installed isnt blown and the unit lights up when I power it on, it just never goes any further than the buttons turning orange.

Im a tournament angler that relys heavly on my electronics for finding fish, probably goes without saying but its true. Purchased a 899c HD Si 2 months ago and its completely dead as of today. I was idling around a point and the screen flashed and went black. Tried to boot her back up and got nothing, after trying all of the obvious methods to fix it to no avail, I siwtched the 859c HD DI which was on the bow to the console and it turned right on. I took the dead 899 and put it on the bow and tried to fire it up and once again got nothing. Paid $1,000 and got less than 6 uses out of it. Something tells me I am going to be without my sonar for most of the summer if they want me to send it in for repairs. I called customer support after dinner, but they closed at 4 CT. Hopefully they dont let me down tomorrow when I get a hold of them.

For sure. Thats what my hunch was! You literally can't make a 7.0:1 go slow enough for tiny cranks.

Seems like you might be throwing it on a 7.0:1 or higher gear ratio. Line size won't really play into it too much unless its 65lb braid. A slow retrieve keeps the bait in the water for me. I throw it on a 6.4:1 and even with that ratio I still need to slow it down a bit to retrieve properly.

Big swimbaits are a definite go in clear water. Also fluoro leaders on braid is a good thought too. I pre-fished a lake for a tournament and on the first day I was dragging a swim jig through heavy pad stems and hooked up a few times but nothing of any size. When I pre-fished the second day I threw on a 20lb fluoro leader and caught 2 fish over 4, and even caught 6 more fish than the previous day. If youre not fishing around dense heavy cover dont be afraid to throw a 17 or 20lb fluoro for big baits also.

That's awesome. Love seeing the dedication. I wish I fished around more. I spend most of my season pre fishing tournaments so there is no surprise trips for me, all business. I wish I wasn't addicted to tournament fishing but I am. Never done drugs, don't drink or smoke, but I imagine this is what it is like to have an addiction, to a lesser degree of course.

Did you drive all the way up from Mass to fish Arrowhead?

Truer things have never been said. I cant even count the number of times ive crawled through a narrow outlet in the back of a cove with my trolling motor, only to have it open up into a backwater with lots of inlets feeding it. That place is huge. I have a hard time wanting to fish places that arent named Lake Arrowhead due to its big fish looking habitat. 50 fish is amazing also. For me its usually nothing or 10 decent fish. Never near 50 and ive been fishing it for almost 13 years now. Way to go!

Looks like there will be 2 Avalanches on Little O Sunday. Ossipee got my vote as well Bob.

It was drained on Monday, but they finished the search, so I just wasnt sure if they raised it back up yet.

Anyone know if they raised the water level back up on Arrowhead yet? I want to fish it this weekend, but im not sure if its still 3ft down.

x2 Plus they come in heavier sizes than any other bladed jig so you can fish them deeper in the water column!

if you want to send me your email, I can forward you the results. I will be fishing Kezar next month also. I fish all of Wayne's tournaments.

Literally the most frustrating day of fishing Ive had in quite some time. Caught 0 fish, had 0 bites. It was my first day ever on the lake. Ive been bass fishing for about 5 years now and just when you think you're getting better at it, you fish 8 hours and don't even get a bite.

If you are going to use the topwater setup for strictly topwater than I would absolutely go for a burner model reel. Anything 7.1:1 and up. Reason being most topwater baits require slack in the line when implementing movements whether it's walking the dog, chugging a chug bug or, popping a popper. In order to compensate for strikes on slack line, the quicker your slack goes away (with a 7.1:1) the quicker your hook set takes effect on a fish. Just my 2 cents on the matter.

Just curious as to your setup because once pads form up here in Maine Ill throw a swim jig over a frog almost any day. I throw it on 65lb Power Pro without a leader. When I fish tournaments on lakes that have exceptional water clarity I have been adding a 3ft section of 20lb fluoro. Do you ever add a fluoro leader if the water is clear?

Haven't done that before. Thanks for the tip! You da man.

I have been a religious Top Shelf swimbait user since KVD won with it on Smith Mountain Lake. I also have the winged talon from osprey. For $9.99 its the most realistic bait ive ever thrown. Sinks fairly quick but has an unreal tail action. I wish there were more lakes in my area that would let me throw more swimbaits. I just don't have the water quality around me to do it.

Took it out of the package and caught 5 fish in 9 casts this weekend. Ive always wanted to throw a big swimbait like the Rago but could never afford them. The 999 series is $9.99 and catches fish. Considering im throwing it in Maine and the water wasn't nearly as clear as it is supposed to be, I bet this bait will do serious work in the lakes that are super clear.