Yakfish

Not a speed boat

Got out of work around 4:30 this afternoon and since I still had the kayak strapped to the roof and the rain had stopped I got off at the Canobie Lake exit and hit the water for an hour. That hour of fishing confirmed what I had already suspected: I have GOT to spend more time on this lake. In the first 15 minutes I caught two 3+ lb'ers on the same jig that got beat up by a couple of largies at the Wilton reservoir yesterday evening (must have missed you baboosic) and two more 1-2lber's on a t-rigged GYCB Kreature. Of course my camera was sat home still connected to the computer after I downloaded some pics yesterday. Oh well, still a great finish to my workday.

I'm think I'm finally getting the hang of this jig thing that everyone raves about. I got out for a couple of hours this afternoon and with a t-rigged GYCB Kreature on one rod and a jig on the other I managed 6 LM's. The two biggest were on (surprise, surprise) a jig with a Flappin Hog trailer. My brother gave me crap that it looked like a Mardi Gras float but you can't argue with results. Not big fish by most standards but a 2 and a 2 1/2lb'er beats the 1lb'ers that usually tear up my senkos. Needless to say, I'll be fishing a lot more jigs. They tore it up.

Absolutely!!!!! You've had enough wives to know that ;D ;D ;D Although, hearing and listening are two different animals.

Nice fish, good for her! Dark plastics rule.

Hey jaystraw, soft plastics and jigs have been doing it for me lately. Tubes and creatures for plastics for the most part as I'm trying to break my senko habit. It's hard because they catch fish but I'm trying to broaden my horizons so I'm throwing more of what I hear are great baits but haven't worked for me so far...especially jigs. Now that I'm catching fish regularly with them I'm finding them harder to put down.

Too bad that whole exchange got so ugly. Well said Chris, the C&R debate will rage forever and hopefully those who engage in it will be as diplomatic as you and most of the other members have been. Me? I always let 'em go, partly because I'd like to catch them again when they're bigger but mainly out of respect for another creature's life. It's not like it's a "him or me" decision when I catch a fish so why should it have to pay with its life? By the time I lip a bass I've gotten out of it what I had hoped for when I set out: the rush of feeling a strike and fighting him all the way in. What more do I need?

I've been having some pretty good luck lately. Good numbers but mostly in the 1-2lb range. Hoping to stick something a bit bigger before the end of the season. The Wilton reservoir continues to be a good spot for catching some decent LM's and last weekend I fished Haunted Lake in Francestown for a few hours. There was a real good early morning bite that shut down around 9:00am but in three hours I managed about a dozen LM's and one decent smallie which was surprsing because there are supposedly none in there. Ugly coloring on the Haunted Lake fish, maybe due to the stained water? It looked like a 139 acre bowl of iced tea with lily pads floating in it. A few pics:

I caught three smallies around the same rock in about 10 minutes. If they're warning each other they need a new network.

Tubes and senkos however deep they're biting.

What's a senko? :-?

Awesome news and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm down to the last pack I was able to get right after they were discontinued.

Good looking fish mirker. Get a weight on her? Never fished Baboosic, I've heard too many mixed reviews to put any time in there. I may be checking it out soon if the bass look like that one!

GYCB Kreatures and Flappin' Hogs. Apparently they're discontinued but they rock. I hope they come back on the market because I'm getting low on them.

Hey NHguy, Looks like you are doing pretty good out on the water int hat kayak of yours. Rocky Pond in Hollis is pretty decent I used to go there regularly until they put up the resident only parking at the launch. Its ashame the amount of open water here in Southern NH is getting smaller and smaller. Yeah man, love the kayak. Best money I've spent on fishing gear. The whole no non-resident parking deal really chafes my a@@. I'd really love to get onto Cobbett's from everything I've heard about the smallie fishing there. Any recommendations on how one could pull that off? Is there any public parking near a spot where one guy could be dropped off with a couple of kayaks while another parked and hiked back to the drop off point? The yak is easy enough to slip into even a space between two trees...no launch needed.

I've been able to get out a lot over the past weeks and have had some pretty good days as well as a couple of stinkers. Most disappointing skunking on Potanipo. I think the last good fish that came out of there was the state record...or maybe I just suck (most likely the cause). A couple of decent days on the Wilton reservoir, three or four action packed days of smallie fishing on Nubanusit (small smallies but lots of fight!) and a great time on Powder Mill Pond. No bass at all for me on Powder Mill but some fat pickerel were going crazy with a topwater bite on Ribbits. Wish I had video of that day. No lip gripper or even gloves but they ripped up a 3 pack of new baits and it was worth slimy hands and dodging teeth just for the adrenaline rush. Someone else mentioned Pleasant Pond which I'm hoping to check out soon since my brother just moved to Bennington and I've also heard there's good smallmouth in Rocky Pond in Hollis...just have to work around that no non-resident parking BS. I've been fishing alone in the kayak for the most part and have been able to take a few pics. Nothing major but hopefully I'll have something really worthwhile before the end of the season. Good luck all!

Ditto to RW's comment about "dark" plastics. Green pumpkin or watermelon w/red or black flake never lets me down. Oh yeah, ditto again to ordering from Brad. Fast shipping and a great selection. (Thanks for the Flappin Hogs Brad, I've actually still got a few left)

I caught my first smallmouth on a trip last weekend and no matter how many times I've heard that they put LM's to shame I didn't really get it until I actually hooked one. I caught 8 or 10 that morning, most of them not more than a pound or so but I was blown away by the the way the little buggers fight! Needless to say I've put my largemouth spots on hold to spend more time going after these maniacs so this morning I loaded the kayak and got out for a few hours. There was no one else on the water and it was pretty slow for a while but then they started hitting just about any soft bait I threw out there. Senkos, tubes and especially GYCB Kreatures really got them going and after getting hit on 4 consecutive casts my heart was going a mile a minute. Again, most them were dinks but on my way in I made the proverbial last cast and got a hit like I've never experienced fishing for largemouth. The way my rod bent I expected to see one of the monster lake trout most people go for on this lake but it was a 2lb 1oz smallie that fought twice as hard as any LM I've ever caught. So much for "last cast". I spent another half hour fishing a couple hundred yards from the ramp and actually did hook a nice trout that measured about 16". He put up a good fight and was pretty to look at but I can take 'em or leave 'em. If I never catch anything but smallmouth for the rest of my days I'll be a happy camper.

I only had about about 2 hours I could subtract from my honey-do duties without getting busted so I left the yak at home and quickly hit the banks at my local spot. Man was it worth it! In two and a half hours I caught a total of 7 fish which is pretty good for this heavily fished reservoir and on one of my last casts I hooked my new PB. I was on my way in and saw 5 or 6 good sized LM's circling in a shallow cove and ran a chatterbait through them with no luck. (all my other catches were on the same bait) Four or five more casts didn't get their attention either so I tried a spinner, a popper and a shad rap rap all getting no bites. Lately I've been determined to NOT fish senkos but I was ready to pack it in and really wanted one more bite so I caved and on my next cast I got a huge bite on the drop. I knew it was better than the 2lb 2oz that was my best of the day but the scale showed 2.11! I couldn't believe my eyes looking at the scale but then noticed the decimal point and realized that I had it in kilograms. Taking stupid to new levels, I also realized that my camera was in my glove box and I was too far away to risk killing this beauty for a picture. I wish I had the pic but the next time I catch her she'll be a little fatter and I'll have my camera.

That's an awesome day in my book. I got a kayak this year after borrowing a friend's a few times last season and can't think of a better platform for hitting the hard to reach spots on any body of water. Keep it up!

That sounds about right to me. In fact 5 on one senko is pretty good from my experience. I've had a senko torn to shreds by one good bite from a dink.

My brother and I got onto Potanipo for a few hours yesterday and the bass were just not in the mood. My brother got skunked but got a lot of tugs on plastics and some bumps on spinners. I managed two feisty pickerel on senkos and one that held onto the leg of a ribbit before letting go as I lifted him out of the water. Fortunately he bailed OUTSIDE of the yak. We saw a school of bass cruising a flat as we were paddling in but couldn't get their attention either. Jigs, chatterbaits, jerk baits, spinners and even plastics just haven't been doing it for us around here yet but the season is young. Hopefully things start heating up soon because the bass are kicking my azz so far.

Canoes are great on still water but from my experience are difficult with even the slightest breeze. Like trying to paddle a bath tub. I recently bought a 14' kayak, put in a couple of rod holders and now have my near ideal fishing platform. I'm sure someone else can give you more pros and cons of canoes for fishing but for my money a kayak is the way to go. Just my .02

I had a day like that yesterday too. Paddled the yak for three hours in the sun and could see the bass cruising but couldn't get them to bite on anything. Felt a few halfhearted tugs on a senko but no cigar. Still had fun though. I was apparently ticking off a couple of beavers (the furry kind...ok, maybe not specific enough...the kind that build dams) and watched them swim around and snort at me for a while before packing it in, going home and mowing the lawn. Still a good afternoon on the water. Maybe next time.

Nice sharp tooth man. He must have given you a nice fight.