MainelyBASS

Looking to go with a Shimano, probably the Cardiff A series, mostly because of the price point. Possibly the Calcutta B series if I can find a good deal on one. I will be using it for big swimbaits, and larger crankbaits like 10XD. The Abu Garcia round reels are much cheaper, but I know what to expect with Shimano. Maybe someone can convince me on an Abu Garcia if you love it.

Just like every other lake in Maine, or probably anywhere, the best time I find is April and May. Less boat traffic, more active fish, and a chance to catch a PB pre-spawn giant. Jerkbaits and white chatterbaits are home run hitters. A lot of rocks and points to fish.

If you have lakes that fish really well with frogs. Throw the swim jig there. In Maine we have a few lake that people refer to as frog lakes. The last 2 tournaments I have a 1st and a 3rd with Strike King Hack attack swim jigs. Everyone demolishes the bank with frogs year in and year out. Sure they work, but offering them a different presentation has really paid off. The swim jig will come through lots of thick cover and stay clean.

A lot of people have mentioned Strike King and how they work so great. I agree 100%! I am a Strike King guy as well. The real selling point for me are their prices. Soft plastics not so much, while I still use them, there isnt a lot of money to be saved by using Strike King soft plastics. The hard baits are a different story. Best baits for the price IMO. For someone like myself who watches the Elite Series or even MLF, seeing the pros use baits and being successful goes a long way in selling a product. That's the reason I always giggle when I see someone like Lucky Craft selling a crankbait for $24 in the same aisle that Strike King is selling a crankbait for almost $20 less. This is a great example of how lures catch fisherman and not just fish. Lucky Craft has Strike King beat when it comes to the flashy, pretty, blingy paint jobs, but when I watch pros use crankbaits who are successful, Strike King is responsible for more winnings than Lucky Craft, I would imagine. Of course a lot can be said to who is the fisherman using the baits also. Maybe if KVD was sponsored by Lucky Craft this would be a different conversation. Or if Greg Hackney used $8 jigs instead of the $3.99 jig he designed himself. All i can say is Strike King lures work very well, and they are very affordable.

All depends, If I am fishing vertical, for suspending fish I go with a longer leader, maybe even 8ft. A good knot is important due to the fact that it will be going through your guides. 8ft may seem like a bit much to some, but for me, 8ft of leader allows me to break off and re-tie the dropshot without having to tie on another leader. If you like a leader of 6ft normally, and you break off, you might be left with 2ft of leader, and after you tie a palomar knot, youve got a 1ft leader. Thus my reason for longer leaders than normal. If I am throwing at docks, the leader can be shorter because often times the lure won't even make it to the bottom if the cast is anywhere near a dock, therefor making the visibility factor of bright colored braid less of an issue. No wrong way to do it, maybe my way is the wrong way! Just my experiences with tournament fishing.

All my dropshot and shakey head setups have braid with 6 or 8 lb fluoro leader. For a few reasons, better casting distance, no stretch for hook sets, and for me personally, I use a bright colored braid so I can watch my line and detect bites earlier.

Well done and thanks for the help!

Ive googled every bird species that is native, to slightly native of Southern Maine and I guess maybe the skull is missing the beak, but all bird skulls show an elongated bone structure resembling a beak.

Well if you guys can't help me, then no one can.

Not sure what animal it was, having trouble finding info online. Found on shore at a boat launch in Southern Maine. Any idea?

Not sure there is a wrong answer for this one. Id stay above 30. Some people I know throw 80lb and catch monsters, I throw 65lb. I suppose the only issue with the bigger line is less on the spool. When I am working a frog the line isn't even making contact with the water so its not an issue of spooking the fish because of heavy line. At least 3-5 times a year I make the dreaded cast where the line goes over a branch and you can yo-yo the frog in and out of the water. The biggest fish I have ever caught while doing this was a bit over 3lbs, but id have a hard time believing that I could lift a bass that size 8 ft in the air with my line sawing away at the tree if I was using a braid under 50lbs.

Way to go man. I was catching 8 inch salmon with my silver buddy last week. The unfortunate part was, the school of bait I found was being heavily attacked by what I thought was bass. I found out they were bass, but the school of bait turned out to be salmon.

It may sound silly, but more often than not IME the bite is worse the closer you go to the bait. The reason is when bass lock in on a school of bait, they can consume 10-20 fish in one swoop through a school of bait. Your lure can mimic exactly what the bait looks like, but becomes less desirable to fish that are locked into large groups of bait. This isnt always the case when speaking about bait fish, but I find that keeping my distance from a school of bait and fishing the outsides of it pays off a lot better than fishing in the middle of the school.

The actual silver buddy comes stock with 2 double hooks, but not a split ring. There are numerous ways to tweak the hooks, some people as mentioned already fish it with only the back set of hooks, some just the front set. I personally switch to a #4 treble on the front, and a #6 in the back, both on split rings. A heavier hook upfront doesnt throw the action of the bait off because the head is where all the weight is to begin with. Regardless of how you customize it, its a great idea to pick some up and start getting familiar with how to work them to draw strikes, then worry about modifying it for greater success.

Thats why I posted it in the Northeast and not in the general, or any other forum.

Next to a traditional jig, a blade bait is probably the most successful tool in my arsenal once the temperature drops below 60 degrees. If you don't have any blades in your collection, I would strongly consider picking some up. Most will work, some work better than others in my opinion. Its hard to top the success of the silver buddy, but others to consider are Heddon Sonar, Johnson Thinfish, Reef Runner Cicada and many more. A few things to consider when fishing these baits are: Switching out the stock hooks, and adding a swivel or snap to limit the amount of line twists that you will encounter. I fish my blades on 8lb fluorocarbon with a 7ft MH spinning rod. With this setup I can fish vertically and drop the blade down to fish I have found on my sonar. Casting setups work as well, but I find that they lead me to "over fish" the blade. If I can offer one piece of advice to anyone who is considering or just starting out fishing blades..... fish it like its made of glass. Let it fall all the way to the bottom. When lifting it off the bottom, only lift until you feel the vibration. DO NOT rip it off the bottom as fast as you can. When the blade goes to sink its best to let it sink on a semi slack line only. If it sinks on fully slack line, there is a good chance you will not detect the bite that comes on the fall. This is one of the most popular ways you will get bites is on the fall. By no means am I an expert on fishing blades, but I only offer this as an opinion. Im sure someone reading this could probably teach me a thing or two about fishing blades.

As a current employee of Cabelas in the fishing department I can say that my coworkers have sold 8 year olds baitcast reels, or button poles as this employee likes to call them. Ive seen ultralight combos sold with 65lb braid on them. These are just a few of the mishaps I see on a weekly basis. To be clear, I don't watch these scenarios take place and say nothing, I am the guy who gets the phone call to go up to the customer service counter and hear the story about the customers nightmare purchase. Ive learned over the years that Cabelas is no different than any other retail store. The pay is $9.50 regardless of your knowledge of the outdoors. The first 2 times I applied for fishing they gave me the job and "moved" me over to the cammo department. The second time I applied for fishing they "moved" me to the camping department. A few of our current fishing associates came over from the Deli and Janitor positions, having 0 knowledge of the department or the sport. I guess I cant blame them for taking a full time position over a part time position, but it reflects poorly on the company in the eyes of our customers. We have customers who drive 3 or 4 hours to visit our store, when they leave with a Abu Garcia baitcast combo for their kids first ever fishing pole because the guy in the fishing department said it was the best outfit for them. We as a store do not come away looking too good. I cant speak for BPS, but at Cabelas the only qualifications you need to be an employee are 2 lips and a tounge.

Where was this?

Bob, did you fish the Pleasant Lake tourney with us this year? I don't remember seeing you there but I came in 3rd and never caught a fish in less than 45-55 ft of water. I had a hard time keeping 1 of my fish alive, a 3.2 smallmouth that was caught on the side of the boat where the depth was 60ft so i ended up losing 2 ounces for the dead fish and missed 2nd place by .02 oz I love fishing the drop shot.

For me personally, the only time I peg is when I am punching mats or other types of thick vegetation. Otherwise the weight falls a lot faster than the bait and it often clogs up the bait with grass.

I have personally seen MaineBass fish and he is a stud. Most of the time he doesnt even use a rod and reel...even saw him land a 4 with his toes this year.

I use strike king tour grade swim jigs. 1/4 and 3/8 oz

I use them a ton on the back of my swim jigs. They are super active in the water and they aren't too expensive. My biggest tournament fish last year came on the sexy shad color on the back of a sexy shad swim jig. 6.8Lbs they have a 3.5 inch one that works awesome on chatterbaits also.

Reel Shad color