Jar11591

Every year I break out the topwater box earlier and earlier. Once the water temp hits low 50°s, the poppers and walkers come out.

Tough fishing today. Surface temps were 55-64°, and air temps of 86°. Saw some really big bass cruising the shallows but were acting extremely skiddish. Also saw a very large pike spawning in about 10” of water. I was very happy to see this because I’ve been a little concerned for the pike population on this lake. But also it scares me how vulnerable these large esox are when they spawn. If I was a poacher, I could have had that 3’+ pike in the boat very easily. Was able to get 2 small bass throwing to the downed timber. But man it was a grind. Fished all day for 2 fish and lost a one or two more.

What a grind today. Air temperature went up to 86°, and all the coves that were iced in on Monday had warmed to 64°. Had the fish all kinds of messed up. Saw a lot of shallow cruisers near timber but were extremely skiddish and weren’t interested in biting. My normal deep structure seemed to be devoid of life. So I fished shallow and was able to grind out a couple 14”ers pitching a Rage Structure Bug deep inside the timber. Definitely not the prespawn day I had hoped for, but I can’t remember ever fishing when it was 86° in mid April. Especially when the lake was 20% frozen a few days ago. Back at it tomorrow!

A medium and medium light

Funny story from when I bought my first fish finder about 10 years ago. It was about the third time out with it, and I wasn’t marking much of anything. I was messing with the menu and settings just trying to familiarize myself with it then went back to fishing. When I glanced back over at it, the screen was lit up like I’ve never seen before. Told my buddy to drop something down immediately, we just found the motherload. After about 10 minutes of fishing and excitement and wondering why we weren’t catching any of these fish we were marking, my buddy goes “why is it flashing ‘Display Mode’?”. I just buried my face in my hands and pulled anchor.

After these next few days, should open up all the waters in the state! Hopefully you can get out there soon. I’ll be hitting the same lake in Warren county tomorrow and Saturday. Only a matter of time before I run into a spring biggun on this lake.

Bass fishing and grilling in the same week. Spring feels good. Just some burgers and summer squash.

I agree with this assessment. The Victory is definitely the better rod, but I’m not convinced it’s $50 better.

High 70s to mid 80s here in NY as well. The last bit of skim ice should be gone everywhere except the higher altitudes. Already got out yesterday and water was open except for the coves.

Lews Speed Spool LFS. Easy choice.

Bass eating frogs is an interesting topic to me. I have no doubt that a bass will try to eat a frog but a few years ago I watched a YouTube video (believe it was BamaBass) and he was feeding frogs to the bass in his pet tank. They were probably 2 pound bass, and small frogs. They would violently attack it as soon as the frog hit the water, but they would spit it out every single time. Not once did they ingest the frog. When he would drop a shiner or crawfish in it would get swallowed up and never rejected. But I’ve caught bass that have frog legs sticking up from its throat. So it obviously happens sometimes. Maybe not as often as we think.

Got out on a small lake in Warren County earlier today. Fought the wind and managed 1 decent largemouth on a spinnerbait. Water temps were 46-48°, and all the coves still had ice. Will be back at it Thursday.

Welcome to BR Jay, from a fellow upstate basser.

Had this day marked for over a week. Open water and an open schedule. Could barely sleep. Had the boat all loaded last night for a mid morning trip to my favorite lake, because the weather called for a high of 67° and 10-15mph wind. Perfect spring weather. So I hit the road about 9:30 for the 45 minute ride north. This lake is a much higher altitude than where I live despite it being only 45 minutes north, so I was getting nervous as the closer I got the more snow on the ground I saw. My anxieties were alleviated when I pulled into the launch; a lake 80% ice-free, and the big snow bank on the launch had melted away. Main lake temps were between 46-48°, and all the coves were still iced in. I started by flipping a jig to a couple of my favorite lay downs, but no takers. I made my way to my favorite spot of any of the lakes I fish. It’s a gradually tapering point surround by steep drop offs on all 3 sides. When I got there, the water was 2 degrees colder than the water where the timber I was fishing was. Had to decide if I wanted to go back to warmer water, or fish the cooler spot that I know has excellent structure. Decided to stay, as I’m confident this spot holds fish 365 days a year, under any condition. I was immediately proved right while I was slinging a 3/4oz spinnerbait in about 15’ of water on the front drop off of the point. A nicely colored 2 pounder lazily ate the spinnerbait with rage swimmer trailer: Frozen coves: The 10-15mph wind they called for turned into 25mph+ gusts and made fishing pretty difficult as my anchors refused to hold. Decided to call it a day after a while of fighting the wind and no more strikes. Should be back at it a few more times this week as the weather is supposed to perfect. The water temps will be rising rapidly and when I return in a couple days the entire lake should be ice free. I look forward to getting on the good shallow timber jig bite that I do every year in the spring. But man it felt good to get out there after such a long winter. Finally feeling that tug, whose absence caused me so much withdrawal the last few months was too good to be true.

Lots of injuries already but they have some depth! Gonna be another exciting season.

I’d love to get a thread going for the Capital Region/Adirondack guys to post reports. I don’t see many posts from this area on the North East section but I know there are at least a few of us. Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Essex and Hamilton counties. @NYWayfarer, @KSanford33, @desmobob or any other capital region or Adirondack angler let’s see some 2023 reports! Hopefully I’ll have some to share tomorrow. Getting out for the first time tomorrow afternoon and hopefully several times this week. I’ll be fishing Warren and Schenectady counties most likely.

One sticks out in my mind. Wasn’t a mind blowing experience or anything, just one of those moments where it happens so fast and you’re like “did that really just happen?”. Was fishing in my boat drifting a riprap bank with a jig. I felt the no doubt tap tap of a bite, so I real up the slack and set the hook, but my leader must have had a nick in it because it immediately broke off. As I’m sitting there inspecting my break-off, a bass rockets out of the water, shaking his head. I see my black and blue jig launch from his mouth, straight at me. It hit the side of the boat with a loud “thud” and sank never to be seen again. Broke a bass off on a jig only for that bass to chuck it back almost right at my face.

I’ve wanted to do this for a while. I know only a little of my ancestry from what I’ve been told by my parents. My maternal grandparents are first generation American-born. Grandfathers parents came here from Hungary, and my grandmothers parents came here from Germany, sometime around the turn of the 20th century. On my dads side I know a lot less, only that my father is nearly full blooded French Canadian.

I’ve used all 3 brands, and Lews can stand toe to toe with Shimano and Daiwa every day of the week. I’ve never been anything but satisfied with my Lews reels. May not be as flashy but function and price wise Lews stands near the top.

It sounds like some think it’s the responsibility of entry level workers to not seek out higher paying jobs even though they’re available, for the sake of bringing down inflation and saving the ego of the “skilled” laborer? Somehow that responsibility falls on society’s lowest paid workers, but not on the multi multi millionaires and billionaires who have enough money to purchase influence in your life whether you’re selling it or not. But let’s keep giving record profits to the egg industry even though a dozen large cost $6.00 and we’ll blame the guy who delivers them to the market. Sounds about right to me.

I’ve never run into a problem while fishing docks. If someone rudely tells me to leave, I’d probably politely explain the law to them and keep fishing. I don’t like the idea of giving in to someone who doesn’t know the law but I also don’t like the idea of confrontation while fishing. Fishermen should have halfway decent aim if they're going to flip docks because it’s not cool to damage property, but if you keep your car permanently in the park next to the baseball field, eventually you’re going to get a foul ball to the hood. Nobody is forcing you to keep your car next to the ball field.

Yeah me and the plopper don’t vibe well

Sprouts comin in nice

I hate those d**n things…but that one looks sweet not gonna lie.

Yeah. The number one reason I work for myself now. When I’ve worked with other people it was all incompetence, weird cliques and shameless backstabbing and brown nosing, high school level drama. Full grown adults wanting to physically fight each other. It scorned me. That plus my natural introversion makes me have no interest in the work place socialization. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made real, genuine friends at work but I don’t include that as part of the superficial fraternizing that happens in work settings.