BassB8Caster

I'm fishing with 2 mh rods. I'm hoping it will handle it ok. My plan is to try everything; walking it, waking on top with a slow retrieve, and cranking it a little under the surface.

Good to hear. I just got my bbz40 rat in the mail and am trying it out this weekend. I haven't fished up there but a friend of mine has. Has has good luck around dams (bass and some brown trout). The androscoggin river is pretty good everywhere. Has some decent pike in there. Not too far from rumford in Jay by the dam is good too. There is also a dam in livermore falls. As far as the dixfield side of rumford not sure.

I was able to get out onto this pond for a few hours on saturday. Again, no bass. Caught 3 pickerel. Had a constant 15 mph wind out of the north, just enough to be a nuissance. In my opinion, this pond is not worth my time any more. i cannot chase ones claim of catching a 7lber. There are way too many ponds around me with great fish. Ive never had this much trouble catching bass anywhere else. These small ponds have very very little pressure, and can eventually be found. So on to the next location. I appreciate the tips along the way.

nice work! thats very respectable here in Maine. Id take that all day long

That's nuts. Another reason to wear sunglasses. Hook in the eyeball wouldnt end well

I agree. It's all about awareness. Worst thing we can follow is sweep an issue under the rug. I think that's what gives a forum like this so much power. Real issues can be discussed with every skill level all over the country (and world really). Change takes time. But it does no good to not allow criticism of pros. Without a healthy fish population there are no tournaments. No tournaments and pros wouldn't exist. I'm not a tournament fisherman but reading topics such as this heightens my awareness even more when I'm handling fish. And I'm sure it impacts others as well which in turn Translates into actions on the water. And that's exactly how it should work.

That is true. Once past the barb probably a little dry coming out. One two three pull. Some bragging rights right there. Hey Kevin remember me? I yanked an xd out of your hand! Except with his mileage on the water his reply would be "which time?"

Sure but the casual fisherman should be expected to be doing more things wrong. Pros need to be held to a higher standard. the amount of fish they handle vs an average fisherman isn't close. As a kid we look up to the pros, not the average fisherman. These things cannot be tolerated just because they are pros and help sell gear. Something is either right or wrong, regardless of who does it. Anyway....back to the fish grips talk

I saw on tv kvd get a crank (10xd I think) yanked out by a boater that was around him. He tied some know around the treble and told the guy to yank her out. It worked great. Knock on wood I haven't had anything more than a small ***** to the finger or hand.

With all due respect.....Isn't this part of the problem? Showing respect for the sport, for the fish needs to happen from the top. If there are people/companies promoting the sport they should be setting the example, no? Turn on any bassmaster tournament weigh in, you will see every fisherman hoist their one or 2 biggest fish up, holding by the jaw. Some get excited and move the fish around. That has got to be bad for the fish. Then pay attention to how a high percentage of fish are landed, pulled up with the rod onto the deck of the boat. What sort of support/care is shown here? The pros are supposed to be the idols aren't they? They are supposed to set the examples. They make a living off those fish, they of all people should show the utmost respect and care. I don't see that. Do you really think they are trying their best? No personal attack here. I just strongly feel your comment hits at the exact moral of this thread. It should be about the best for the sport, the best for the fish. If the casual fisherman turns on a tournament and sees fish flung into a boat and waved around by their mouth, easy to "do what the pros do". I personally use grippers for weighing fish only. Keep fish in a net until hooks are removed then carefully handle fish.

Not trying to derail thread....but what spray scent do you use and do you like it? I fish out of a kayak and am considering scents but don't want to make a mess applying it (is assume you rub it on the bait....megastrike for example).

Awesome video and detail! im not a tournament fisherman (yet atleast) but enjoy watching it on tv. One big turn off for me was seeing big name pros punching holes in fish's mouths for tags. Glenns system is perfect. Its effective and safe for the fish (most important).

Will do. I really want to get there prespawn. Should be the best time to find them (if they are in there).

I cannot say 100% there is. I fished there twice last fall and caught only a handful of pickerel. I talked to a guy who lives close by and told me if I caught one it would be a 7lber (his words). He said he caught a 7lber out of it. To me it looks like it would be bass heaven. Lots of cover, freshwater coming in, bugs,insects, etc. I haven't been able to fish it yet this year. Hoping to soon.

I like the 1/2 with a paddle tail trailer (either havoc beat shad or grass pic). I've tried other trailers (pit boss, craw fatty, etc) that, to me, look awesome. I just have had no luck. Switch to a paddle tail trailer and they hammer it. I basically have 3. One green with silver blade, one white with silver blade, and one white with gold blade. I've done best with the green (esp with smallies). Real just fast enough to feel it vibrate. Casts great into the wind and I usually fish it on 30lb braid.

I caught a pretty chunky 19" largemouth this weekend weighed 4.03 on my digital scale fwiw. I've caught smallies where I thought they were monsters when I got them in my net. Weighed out at 3.7 and 3.5lbs. Didn't get a length on them. I have not weighed anything of known weight to check my scale (I should probably do that).

I would assume any lakes down there will have some bass in it.

nice! she is a tank!

Wow. that's a big brook trout. I wasn't sure at first what he was. I caught him like 6 feet off the kayak. He went crazy when I got him to the surface. All I could see was flashy silver. Thought it may have been a chub/sucker (I caught a good sized one last year in that lake). Last thing I thought it would be was a trout. Especially on a red lipless crank. I was tempted to take him home and grill him up. Decided to release him.

I was finally able to get out and do some fishing today. I only fished from about 10 to 230. Ive been very excited to fish this particular lake as it sets up very well for the fish to set up prespawn in a shallow flat on the north end. There are 2 small rivers that flow into the lake on the north end. I have fished here in the summer and the North end was full of grass, weeds, lilies etc. And I did very well last summer with Texas rigged soft plastics. My plan was to start where the depths go from 20-25' up to 8 to 12 (the beginning of the flat). I was expecting the fish to start staging anywhere here and shallower. I intended to search with jerkbaits, spinners, chatterbait, lipless cranks etc until I found them, then slow down with jigs, etc. Started out very slow. Didn't help there was a steady 20-25 mph southern wind. There has also been a lot of rain lately so the lake was high and stained. So I spent some time seeing how shallow they might be. Didn't find much real shallow. After a while I caught a decent pickerel in 2.5 -3 fow on a red craw rat l trap. Then after a little while later I caught my first largemouth. A 4lber on a red/blk 3/8 strike king spinner in about 6 fow. Then I had a first in my bass fishing days. I caught a chunky 13" brook trout on the red craw rat I trap. I've never caught a trout on my bass lures before. It was kinda cool. Next I tied on a zman chatter trick stick. I bought this cheap thinking it would work good. Looks like a rainbow trout with the blade. It doesn't move a ton. Kinda shimmies/ shakes (not wobble like a crank or paddle tail). Expectations were low due to the rather poor reviews online. Figured I would try it anyway. Glad I did! It was the lure of the day! I caught a 3.3, 3.75, 3 and 2.5 on it in a rather short time. All these fish were very healthy chunky fish. The 4lber on the spinner was 19" long. All the fish looked like they had a belly full of eggs or food. These were all caught in 4-8 fow. What I like about the trickstick is it vibrates with very little movement. So I can swim it very slowly while it is still vibrating. It is a very flashy loud bait. At this point I about had all the wind i could take and it was time to paddle about a mile back into the 20mph wind. All in all, a good day fishing for my first of 2017. I believe there are bigger fish in here. Will definitely fish this lake more this year. Pics below of the trickstick and trout. Didn't get any pics of the bass.

I attempted to go out on saturday to find that many of the ponds i target are still frozen over. Will try again this weekend. Should be good to go after the warm up thats coming.

oops, didnt realize the post was that old. I liked fishnkamp's offer anyway. Cant beat that offer. I commend you fishnkamp for how helpful and informative you are. I fish out of a kayak but am dieing for a bass boat (not there yet). so i frequent the boat section. I constantly see you helping others and you are extremely informative. When the time comes and im looking to buy a boat, i will look for you for all questions i may have. Your knowledge is vast and its obvious you enjoy helping others. One of many helpful individuals on this great forum!!

I have directv and as often as i can i will look ahead and see what there is on for fishing on saturday and sunday mornings and i will record them to watch later. I watched day one and two of the Geico Classic on Conroe Lake in Houston. Through the first two days, Brent Ehrler and Dave Lefebre were shown quite a bit on the show. They both did well the first two days Ehrler lead after both days. For some reason day three was not highlighted. So i googled results, expecting to see one of those two to win. Nope. Ehrler lost by less than 2 lbs and Dave Lefebre caught 1 fish on day 3 falling to 14th. 1 fish all day, amazing after doing so well day one and two. Jordan Lee won the tournament after posting an 8-6 day 1 (27-4 day 3)! My point: No matter what skill level we are all at, fishing can be hot or not, one day to the next. What the pros kept emphasizing was to be able to adapt. Anyone can go out with game plan A. But if you dont have game plan B,C D etc you will probably not fare too well. Learning skills to make us better is imperative. Of course, many of us on here are just casual fun fishermen. But i think we all can agree that getting skunked sucks. Being able to adapt and go against the grain may be the difference between going home fishless and having the day of your life. Even the pros have days where they cannot find them.

what i like about the oakley's ive used, is that i can wear them under any conditions (besides dark obviously). Even as light starts to diminish, they dont get really dark. they really help reduce glare. So i can still see really well on cloudy days.

Im a fan of Oakleys (have to be polarized though). To me they are expensive glasses. Have never tried costas, maui jim etc. My current pair of oakleys are the five squared. Paid $85 for them. fit me great. are nice and light and work well. I really cannot compare those to the others. I just ordered a pair of the Strike King S11 (got them for $15). They are polarized and have great reviews. I agree that the fit matters. Uncomfortable glasses can give you headaches and bother you all day. whats the sense? For those of you who swear by these glasses with glass lenses, are they much heavier that say Oakleys? Is it a big noticible difference when wearing them?