MassYak85

Generally you will see bloody tails when the fish are spawning. they can get pretty beat up when they fan the bottom with their tails to make beds. But the spawn is obviously well over with so I'm not sure, was the whole tail bloody or did it look like it was an acute injury like a single cut or bite?

I brought my WP 90 to school, hopefully some Merrimack Smallies will be hungry this fall.

After catching a good one I definitely get a buzz for probably 20 minutes, and for the next few hours even I am in a very good mood.

I bet haha. it looks like a really cool lure. How big was that bass you got on it? Me and my dad hit webster early this morning. It was surprisingly cold. Quick backstory: So after having issues with the stock hooks on the whopper plopper 130's I decided to get some ST-56's. I also decided to take off the back treble and just use the front one, since all of the fish I have caught on the lure were hooked with the front one, and all the back one had done was snag weeds or gills. So we start fishing before the sun is up, and I have that whopper plopper tied on. We are fishing in a cove with some lily pads in it. First cast a bass comes up and tries to take it....didn't fully take it. A few minutes later, same thing....and a few after that, same thing. I'm a little annoyed they aren't fully committing and I feel because I took off the back treble I might be missing fish. So I steal one off my S-Waver and fish it a little longer, FINALLY one takes it. I set the hook, feel it's weight, aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnddd it comes off. 0 for 4 on the whopper plopper, but they weren't really crushing it like the usually do. For the next few hours I didn't get a single bite. My dad managed one small bass and a couple pickerel on spinnerbaits up shallow. The day got pretty hot so we tried fishing deeper, my dad hooked into a decent one on a carolina rig that weighed 2.3. We tried a section of shore that drooped to 20 feet really quick. A few minutes with the dropshot there produced a 2.5 and a couple dinks for me. No more bites after that though. We left around 12 because it was just really slow and the lack of wind made the heat kind of miserable. Tons of skiers and wakeboarders out today too. The guy we talked to at the ramp had a pretty similar day, slow and had to really work for 3-4 fish. But hey, certainly beats getting skunked. I'm moving into my dorm tommorow, I decided I'm going to to take a rod this year (why waste a chance to be living 1 minute walking distance from the Merimack river?). Hopefully some decent smallies swim swim my way this fall.

I would be interested in this too, I've had rods sit in my car for probably a total of about a month this summer and the inside has no doubt gone above 100 on certain days. As far as CXX. I thought about 25 when I spooled my first swimbait rod earlier this year, but everyone was saying how strong it was so I went with 20. Long story short next time I buy it I'm getting 15. I snagged a savage gear swimbait from shore on a long cast and had to break off. I had to winch the drag all the way down, and pull harder than I was comfortable with to get the line to break. I'm surprised you were able to break 25 on a hookset unless the line was damaged.

There aren't many firsts to be had any more....but gosh you might have yourself one there, that's amazing.

Personally I love it when people paddle/drive by and want to chat for a minute. Especially if both sides are honest and aren't misleading the other just for the hell of it (obviously tournaments are different and I do not fish them).

d**n dude, nice fish! Also....what kind of rat bait is that?! Judging by the size of your fist it's got to be 10 inches no? Looks custom.

lol, woops. I'll fix that typo

x2 on Sniper Also x2 on the FG knot if you want to try a leader. It should go through your microguides easily.

Hooked into a pretty big snapping turtle once, luckily he got off by himself. I have also caught tons of mussels on lures but it happens enough I don't consider it a weird occurrence.

My friend and I paddled Whitehall this morning, didn't fish though. Wind was crazy and there were a few guys out fishing. One guy in a small center console said he got a few when I asked, not sure if he was going for bass or not though, and there were a couple guys in a Nitro that I don't think were having much luck judging by how much they were buzzing around the lake changing spots. How big would you say the one you saw jump was? I've heard rumors of a kid pulling out a 10 pounder last spring but I have no idea if that is true, and if it is, whether the fish survived. I've personally never got anything over 4 in there.

I have noticed this as well. I have yet to catch a fish that was not hooked by the front treble. I actually just tweaked my 130, took off the back hook and beefed up the front one. I tested it out and it didn't alter it's swimming at all, if anything it now lays a little bit more parallel when paused.

There are few lures I own that I would go swimming for or climb onto a tree limb....if I ever get a Pop Max though it's going to be on that list.

My favorite that I have tried is War Eagle, great quality while not being crazy expensive. They're a little bit more than some but I feel it's worth it.

Too many Most soft plastics I get either get occasional use or are burned through very quickly. For hard baits I only recently acquired a decent collection, where I bought a few for each type, for varying conditions (jerkbaits, lipless crank, squarebill, deep divers, poppers, spooks etc. in varying colors). Many of those have not seen much time on the water yet. There aren't many lures I have that have NEVER been used, but there are a pretty good amount that have never caught a fish, and probably have less than an hour on the water.

500 is a perfectly doable budget. Especially if you find a deal or look for a used one online. Personally I use a Bass Pro Ascend FS10 sit-in kayak and love it (although it's heavily modified at this point). Definitely try and out a couple if you get the chance. I don't know if there is a Cabelas near you but every now and then a kayak will show up in their bargain cave. I would also recommend getting a decent paddle. I used a cheap aluminum one for many years and recently got a nicer one and the difference is huge (Manta Ray Hybrid). It's just under two pounds which feels like a feather compared to the old one. I can paddle all day without getting too sore. If you are just putting around little ponds and not going any significant distance any paddle will do the job though. But that is where kayaks shine, those hard to get to puddles in the middle of nowhere that boats can only dream of getting on. I wouldn't worry too much about things like rod holders and anchor systems that come with it as far as swaying your decision on which kayak to buy. They are very customizabl and those things and much more can be added to suit your specific needs. What's important to start is that it feels right, and you will be comfortable in it in the long run. Also keep in mind the seat. Long days on the water will have you thanking yourself you chose a comfortable seat.

Some MH's START at 3/8, so yea. That being the max is totally off.

First time (5.40 #'s a couple years ago) Pflueger President 30, 7'0" MHF BPS Tourney Special, 15lb Power Pro braid. Wacky rigged Green Pumpkin Stick-O. Second time (5.40 #'s, different lake this spring) 13 Conc. A, 7'2" HF Tatula, 20lb Sunline Sniper FC, Lethal Weapon IV Green Pumpkin Orange Swim Jig with Green Pumpkin Kietech 3.8 as a trailer.

Unless you are whipping it out as hard as you can and getting a dead-stop backlash 30lb braid shouldn't just snap like that unless something is weakening the line. Make sure your guides are fine, and make sure your line isn't fraying either due to the weight rubbing on it (can happen with lower quality weights with rough spots) or from the cover you are fishing. The only other thing I could think of is if you snell the hook, and the hook eye is not welded, sometimes the line can pinch in that groove where they bend the wire around to form the hook eye and weaken. Also, I forgot, the most important piece of the puzzle here is WHERE your line is breaking. If it's at the bait, it's not going to be an issue with you rod. If it's in a random spot, it's either your rod or you may need to change out your line if it's old.

I've had far too much success with them to justify spending nearly 1 dollar a bait for something that will get torn beyond use after one dink fish. The senkos sure are nicer and I might consider them for tournaments if I ever did them, but I have no reason to switch currently. I've gone through 10 stick-o's in a day. Probably would have been 3 bags of senkos had I used those instead.

Since Mass has a lead ban, I made the switch to tungsten this year. For anything under 1/.4 I still use brass weights though.

I've had great success in high winds (15-20+) so it's tough for me to just not go because I know I might be missing out. But anything over 15 in the kayak is an absolute nope. Not worth the hassle, I spend more time maneuvering than actually fishing. In a boat or from shore anything under 25 is tolerable if they are biting. Spinnerbaits or noisy topwaters like the whopper plopper or a buzzbait can be deadly in rough water.

A K-mart near me had a going out of business sale a couple years back. They had a bunch of spools of those so I grabbed like 3-4 12# spools of that stuff. I have used it as leader material and have had no issues. Never tried it as mainline though.

It's designed as a trolling bait for muskies I believe. Not sure there are many swimbait rods that would eve handle something that heavy. I suppose a true trophy bass would eat it if given the chance.