BassB8Caster

i have fish grips jr. works awesome!

Great points.

Some great tales already. This topic turned out better than I expected. My first night fishing I experienced the Beaver slap. Odd thing is I saw the Beaver come out off shore and swim out in front and around me to avoid me. Then about a minute later it sounded like a sasquatch jumped in the water.

I should have been more specific. I had lights to see in my kayak but there were no other lights on the water (no docks, camps with lights etc).

Lately while ive been out fishing (i fish mainly small ponds under 200 acres) i have heard more trees crash than in my life time. It seems lately every outing i hear a tree fall. Just seems super odd that all of a sudden im hearing this. I have spend many many hours in the outdoors in my life and have not heard this many trees fall. The past week i have done my first bit of night fishing, and along with a tree crashing, i have heard some sort of animal wading around in the shoreline about 100 feet away. A little unnerving for first time night fishing on a pond with absolutely no lights. The first night i went out it seemed that every little sound spooked me. What weird noises have you guys heard out on the water (both day and night)?

Nice work nice gut on her. Some times it takes some work to get bites. I have had up and down success with chatterbaits. Sometimes its all i can get bit on, and i have also found that the color of the trailer (i use paddle tail swimbaits as trailers) makes a difference. I have 2 white chatterbaits (one with gold blade with some black specs on it, one silver blade in white skirt). I also have a green chatterbait with silver blade. all my success is with the green one. No luck what so ever on the white ones. Nice versatile bait!

Congrats, happy bday

Well I'm not 100% sure. I lived up there from 12 years old until high school graduation. I did not fish for bass up there. Trout only. I just started fishing for bass last summer (I'm in Maine now). From what I remember I think there may be bass in back lake, don't remember if there is a good launch. If you have time, stop in at the buck rub pub. It's on route 3 (left side going north about 3 miles north of town just past lake Francis boat launch). Depending when you go, there should be someone there willing to talk fishing. It's been a long time since I've been Up there, but when I lived there a good friends mom owned that pub (her name is Sandy, my friends name is Job). From what I hear, many things have changed up there, so my advice may not be worth much. Being a bass lover (for the lack of a better term), all that town needs is bass to be my sportsman's dream spot. Awesome wildlife and outdoors. Some of the best 4 wheeling and snowmobiling. Good luck. I will be just south of pittsburg in Canaan vermont visiting friends. There is a huge softball tournament labor day weekend. Usually 50 or so teams.

From my small sample size (started fishing bass last summer), I side on the side of "not a whole lot you can do". I got into some good smallies (4 one day from 3.27 to 3.69lbs). I was using a 7:1 reel with 30lb braid with chatterbait and swimbait trailer. They hit the bait hard. The first hit I got I just kinda set the hook gently and kept tension. She came up to the surface, jumped and shook my lure. So I would say first thing is a strong hook set. Then it's keep tension. These bigger smallies are fast and strong. When they decide to swim at you it's a challenge to keep up. You can see the line come up before they jump. But I've found it hard to keep them down. IMO the jump isn't the killer. If you have a good hook set and keep tension through the jump you should be in great shape. Then you need to be quick and efficient with the net. This can be a challenge as well. Nothing is 100%. But I feel if I do these things, I have a great chance at landing the fish.

I hear ya and if thats what you encounter, thats what you encounter. Just odd its only with redsox fans you see this, yet when i and others go to sox games we see the opposite. You are probably right in that if it is truly that bad you shouldnt go to games so it doesnt come to actions you may regret. I have gone to yankee redsox games back when the rivalry was at its peak (2003-2008 or so). I was there when Curt Schilling came back from his ankle surgery and came out of the bullpen. I was behind home plate amongst sox and yankee fans. Do you hear people yell? Definitely, but honestly i have never been around any scenario where it could become an altercation. Its too bad it comes to that in Tampa. The rays seemed to be building something good for a few years, but now it seems they may be regressing. They still have some talent. Probably the biggest loss is coach Maddon. He is one of the best (IMO).

As a Redsox fan, i disagree. Are there bad apples? Sure. There are bad apples in every bunch. Being on the other side (redsox Vs yankees) i have seen the opposite. Ive seen many New Yorkers who are extremely disrespectful. For you to say any one organization is respectful and curteous is incorrect. EVERY team in every sport has poor disrespectful fans. Singling out one fan base is not fair and is wrong. I have gone to many redsox games and have never seen any problems.

Very interesting comments regarding pressing on the tongue and stomach. I have noticed that pros grab them over the top by the sides. I have been leary of this in fear of getting one of the dorsal spikes into the hand. Basically every fish i catch now i use the net, then remove the lure and lip them. As far as dinks having more energy, im not sure i go by that. Im not saying its not true, but i have seen it vary body of water to body of water. I have caught small fish that freeze up and you just haul them across the water. They stay still until thrown back in the water. One pond i fish at the fish have crazy energy and strength. Its consistent at all sizes, even the 2-3.5lbers. When you grab ahold of them you need to really hold on. Im far from the strongest guy in the world, but some of those 2.5-3.5lbers make me feel kinda weak when they get thrashing. Usually i just let them go if i dont have them good, as to minimize stress and injury to them. My wild guess is there is some sort of correlation to fishing pressure to energy shown in these fish. Some seem to just know the drill when getting caught.

Drop offs near flats and or inlets, points, humps, grass and weedlines, 10 to 20 foot deep structure. Search these areas with cranks, spinners etc. Once you find them pick the area apart with jigs, soft plastics, drop shot etc. Pay attention to how they hit your bait and how deep they are at (on bottom vs suspended). May need to vary your retrieval until you figure out how they want it.

These are they exact same type of maps i have to go by here in Maine. The state has them for basically all the lakes and ponds. Like stated above, take it all with a grain of salt. It is better than nothing, but they are definitely not exact. This time of year you can find success in the shallows where grass, lillies and cover exists (especially late in the day through the night and mornings). Then they can be found in deeper water off shore. Spend some time around any inlets with fresh cooler water and cover close to drop offs. Dont be afraid to get up in the thick stuff with the kayak.

This makes sense. Appreciate the feedback

I agree. I have caught lmb with sharper teeth than usual. Sharp enough to cut my finger? No, but sharp enough to stand out right away once I lip em.

Just one fish can change an entire day! Just never know what that next cast may bring!

Could be the problem. I'll check them out. If it were just a hook sharpness issue I would think I would have the hook exposed and the bait up the line like it typically does when catching a fish. But the majority of the times the bait looked as if it was never touched. And it's not like I can berry the point end very deep in a tube or pit boss. @reelguy I agree this could be an issue. I'm very careful in how I reinsert the hook as to not allow this to happen. There is obviously a chance it was the case, and I'll make extra effort to be sure it's not too deep. I try to insert it just enough to be weed less. Just very odd. I'll chalk it up to the bass winning that day. The way I look at it is I found the bass, got them to bite my lures. I will try waiting another second and then setting the hook as hard as possible. This is the thickest stuff I've ever fished. Any chance 30lb braid isn't enough in this type of situation? I have read many times where people recommend 50lb (and even 65lb) with a heavy rod for the thick stuff. I have 2 combos and both are MH rods. Another set up isn't in the budget right now.

Good morning Bassresource. Looking for some tips on improving my hook ups in the slop. Yesterday i fished a small pond at the north end that had tons of cover. Grass, lillies, tulles with milfoild under neath. This is all in 3 to 3.5 feet of water all the way to shore. Pristine bass stalking territory. It was hot so the cover was just what the bass wanted. I had no problems finding the fish. My problems were hooking up. There were a few holes in the cover, but for the most part it was completely matted. I love fishing this stuff, and with my kayak i get right up into it, searching the entire area. I fished with 30lb braid using a few different soft plastics (tube in green pumpkin and white, blue pit boss and a couple craw fatty's) all texas rigged on screw ewg 4 or 5/0 hooks. I just casted out and worked the bait across the surface with a few pauses here and there. In the past these have been perfect for hook ups. But yesterday i didnt land 1 bass in this area. The bass would take the bait, i would set the hook (hard from what i could tell) and the battle would ensue. A few seconds later i would lose it. A couple times i even saw the fish up at the surface as i wrestled it in. But again, i would lose it. Many times i would look at the bait and it still had the tip of the hook down in the plastic. Never being exposed. I cannot imaging a bass having these baits in their mouths and not get a hook in them. Am i using the wrong hooks? Like i said, i have done really well in the past with this set up. Yesterday probably had more slop than usual. But i lost a good 7 or 8 fish. doesnt make sense to me. I was using a lews combo with MH rod. Possible that i didnt get enough hook set power between the slop and being in a kayak? For the small ponds i fish, the thick stuff is where a lot of the good fish hide. So i would love to get this solved if possible. Thanks in advance guys!

congrats. gotta love when it goes right. My week has been the opposite. Tough to get a bite. I even did some night fishing thinking that would help, but little action. We have had a slew of thunderstorms since last friday coming through. Not sure if that put the bass into hiding. Im going to go with that tho. Again, good work those are some stout fish.

That tank must have pulled that kayak all around. I fish out of a kayak and 3 to 4 lbers pull me around quite a bit. No doubt about it, she was eating well. Good job.

A good thing to consider with any brand you buy would be whether you have a quality local dealer. If something goes wrong, are they going to take care of you?

Congratulations!

I would have to agree. I'm after the big ones. I do hate getting skunked though. But I think that makes me a better fisherman. Always trying to improve on the last outing. Having said that, being able to go out and execute a new technique (no matter what size fish I catch) is a great feeling. The bonus with this is the better we get, the better chances we have at catching a big un. Nice cut and dry choice huh

I second the night fishing recommendation. The only times I'm interested in fishing now with the heat and humidity is early morning (as early as possible to get out 3 to 5am) until around 1030 or 11. 1) my schedule limits me to less time on the water compared to 2 months ago and 2) I feel this block of time gives me the best odds of getting on the fish, and more of them (aside from night fishing, which probably has the highest odds). I also try to get out in evenings after work when possible. Small ponds I fish in that get pretty warm (for maine at least) are still providing lively aggressive bass in shore (warmer water), just not during the day.