thomas15

I belong to a gun club that has a small indoor range. Thursday evening is pistol night so I get to shoot year round in comfort. Still, I prepare all of my handload ammo in the fall because my garage is not heated, a real bear to work in these days. I also take classes at my local community college (for personal enrichment). Crazy I know but I'm hooked on it. So when the weather gets better I still will have limited time until the middle of May. I'ts been in the single digits with snow this weeks and I think I'm officially sick of winter.

I'm 25 miles north of Allentown near Jim Thorpe (PA) where I'm a volunteer firefighter. We have a water rescue team and so this morning we cut a hole in the ice and practiced rescues. On this particular pond, shallow with water running in one end and out the other the ice was 7" deep. 6 hours later I still have a chill in the bones. Anyway, being on the water got me thinking about the end of this winter, getting my tackle ready and the boat prepped. Spring can't come soon enough. We are supposed to get more snow this weekend.

Same here, moved to PA in 2004 (from NJ). Believe it or not, I used to fish for and catch LMB almost every day. When we first moved to PA I tried but had no luck. Last summer we decided it's time to get back. Like starting all over again, literally feel like a beginner. Went full bore though, got a boat and restocked my tackle box. It's basically out of control now, I picked up 3 new bait cast rigs, a few spinner rigs, and a bunch of tackle to go along with the boat. This year I'm going to spend some real quality time hunting for Mr. Bass.

When I was a kid we lived on the Jersey Shore, had a boat and fished off-shore and the bay. When I got out on my own I rarely fished at all. About 20 years ago I started freshwater fishing while still living at the Shore but boatless. At some point a decided to try LM bass. I remember trying all kinds of different things, but no fish, literally. I had a respectable tacklebox but not even a bite! A few chain pickrel and bluegills but no bass. I remember saying to myself, I will give it one more try, if nothing, I will move on. That day I got my first LM and caught many more as a bank fisherman for several years. Me and a co-worker used to fish a pond near our company during lunch break. I cought LM bass 4 or 5 times/week during this period. 10 years ago we moved to PA (from NJ). Oddly enough there are more LM bass lakes in Ocean County NJ and better fishing than in NE PA. Me and the Mrs. bought a boat this summer and true it is a learning curve to transition from bank to boat but I'm worse than a newb now.

Awsome fish!

My wife spent her summers as a kid at Highgate Springs.

We have an electric only lake close by and I've seen boats there with big outboards mounted, in the up position, fishing. I realize local or state rules can be different but in general do most people leave their big gas OB on and use either an electric or small gas OB where there are restrictions? This might be considered a really dumb topic and I appologize if it is. I want to fish lakes that are restricted but don't want to buy a another small boat. Is it considered normal to put a TM on a bass boat transom and slowly make your way out to the place you want to fish?

A Redneck, by definition, would park the boat in the living room. Right between the TV and the fridge.

May I ask where you spend most of your time fishing? I have a brother that lives in Plattsburg. But alas, we not on the best of speaking terms.

I'm game for certain. Thanks

Does anyone use this lure? I have the 1 oz size, it's a big bait. I would like to know if there is a fan base for this lure and how is it fished. I assume same as a spook?

I share your exact feelings on the matter but the ever convenient Beltzville Lake is basically dead fish wise. I'm gonna try to make the trek to the big pond this weekend because I really want to catch a fish!

Do you fish Wallenpaupack?

I fished for about 4 hours friday with nothing to show for it. However, it sure beat going to work! And, as a bonus, my boat didn't sink!

This is my ride, had it about 2 months now. It's been many years since I had a boat. 2004 Starcraft PT160 50 HP Mercury Minn Kota 40 pound

Sorry to hear this.

Great fish, thanks for sharing!

I'm simply happy to be out on the water.

Thanks Z-Dunham Will give this a try. Tom

Z-Dunham great post. I'm thinking about taking a trip to Wallenpaupack this weekend. I know, I know it will be busy. I'm in the Lehighton area and have actually never been to Wallenpaupack so really I'n just going on a scouting mission. Which ever day I go, probably Sunday, I plan to get there early in the morning or will stay into the evening. May I ask your opinion, coming from the south, which ramp should I use? I had been planning on using the free state fish and boat ramp on the north side but open to the voice of experience. Also, if giving a ramp suggestion, could you also suggest a starting point to fish? Thanks Tom

An update to my previous post (#24). Sometimes I think that retail compnies send their employees to school to learn how to be annoying. I called the much beloved supplier of tackle only to be frustrated to the point of insisting that my > $500.00 order be cancelled. In my neck of the woods we have many retail tackle stores. One is a small family owned shop that has umpteen millions of plastics. At good prices. Also, there is a Cabelas about 25 miles away. two Dick's stores on the way home from work, and Bass Pro is not too far either. The Jersey Shore with all it's salt water stuff is 1.5 hours away. I've bought some of my best producing lures from walmart. I guy that owns the shop in town might be a little more in cost but he cares because he wants you to come back. The person manning the switchboard on the other side of the country want's to simply get you out of his hair.

I Live literally right around the corner from Beltzville. I know it's a tough lake in good times but no one is catching anything at all on this pond. Really discouraging as I see the stripers jumping, my fish finder showing fish but even the bluegills ignore our bait. Hopefully things will improve after labor day when the boat pressure decreases.

Hi everyone. Just restarted my bass fishing adventures after a 10 year layoff. Years ago I fished almost every day and had a number of ponds totally under control. Then in 2004 we moved to PA and other interests took conter stage to fishing. This summer my wife and I decided it was time to get a boat. Funny because I grew up on the Jersey Shore and lived all my life (with the exception of the last 10 years) near large bodies of water. Now, it's lake boating unless we want to trailer 2 hours or more. For those who know this area, NE PA, Beltzville Lake is my home lake. So, our boat has reintroduced me to bass fishing although the bass are hard to catch here. I'm trying to stay positive though. I hope that this forum will help me unlock the mysteries of NE PA bass. Thanks Tom

I'm new here. Just getting back into bass fishing after about 10 years off. So I'm restarting my interest in this pastime with quite a few lures in my collection, hardbaits mostly. But I wanted to add some new stuff to my tackle box and try to catch up on the latest offerings. In the past I fished from the bank, now I have a boat and I've moved to a different state so I'm kind of learning things all over again. I have watched numerous testimonials and youtube vids where folks rave about TW. So I decided to give them a try and made out a very large order. So far my experience is not too positive, when I checked estimated delivery days with air shipment, the estimated delivery was showing mid Sept.,... a full 3 weeks away. Ground was only slightly longer so I chose that option. But still why so long to ship items showing in stock? My order contains 2 rods and 2 reels, one I'm planning on giving to my brother who I haven't seen in over 10 years. I was going to give it to him when I see him in 2 weeks but it might very well be that it isn't delivered before then. Why would they take soo long to process this order? Perhaps I will be surprised and will see some new lures at my doorstep much sooner than expected. I hope so. To be honest though, I rather see fast friendly service than free t-shirts and stickers. So we will see as the jury is still in recess on this one. I'm only commenting on this because the question has been asked. I don't intend to make a big deal about this as I already have enough baits to last several lifetimes, way more baits than my present skills warrant. And as far as my brother is concerned, I can give the rod/reel to him another time. Just giving my opinion based on a limited interaction.