Boomstick

So last week I was fishing on Lake Dunmore. I had only been out on my kayaks on that lake once (it rained heavily last year) and once on a canoe I rented from the State Park before, so I had minimal knowledge of the lake beyond the depth chart and catching a few fish on the north side my first time out, and that it's the clearest water I have ever seen and generally regarded as tough fishing and also one of the best lakes in the state for large bass, both smallmouth and largemouth. When I first got out on the water, the winds were quite strong. I had identified what is likely the best spot (and others confirmed the same thing in a thread I posted before I left) and headed down to it. Due to the winds and depth, I could not anchor on the main lake, but was able to go around the corner and anchor in a milfoil patch as close to a drop off as I could position my kayak. My first cast was intended to confirm where the weedline ends and the drop off starts and the biggest smallmouth I had ever seen followed my jig back to the boat. Until it came to the top, but could not get it to bite unfortunately. It did not take long to get our first fish. We moved to the end of the arm and both of us caught our first fish within ten seconds of each other. We then paddled to the south end of the lake (and barely made it back due to the winds, great idea on my part) and I caught one more. I also found a pretty solid patch of lily pads down there, but too bad I did not bring a frog. We fished the edges of it for a bit, and finally got one on a steep slope on the other side of the arm. The next day we found a point on the north side. It was also the only day with calm winds. I got at least a bass and a pike there and my kid caught a few and also lost a couple - his net kept getting stuck in his blackpak and he had just lost a couple trying to land them. The next couple of days we split most of our time between both spots, and found a few new spots as well. I did not catch any large fish, most of mine were around a pound. My kid got a lot of really tiny fish, but he had a couple of nice ones. But neither of us got skunked on any day, in a very clear lake in very warm water, so that was generally a success. I plan to return next year with much greater knowledge of the lake and I'm going to try to land a cabin on the water so I can keep my kayak mostly rigged up and on a dock instead of having to trailer it, which makes for a quicker launch. We had a jig, drop shot and tube with us every day. We tried swim jigs, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, small swimbaits, deep divers and T-Rigs as well, but none of the later produced well for us. My collection of pictures from the trip here. The views from the lake were absolutely amazing. https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhZmMB-Fz0_2jvch4r8F0z02IP1GKg?e=rzflTD

I use the St Croix Mojo Bass Topwater rod. 6'8" M/XF. It runs on the lighter side. It is a XF with less tip but it runs lighter compared to the other St Croix Mediums so it bends all the way through. Very good rod for topwater and even jerkbaits.

When this happens I usually throw a football jig or a drop shot. You could also try your T-Rig on a football jig head.

If they can fit it in their mouths, bass will eat it. Proof here:

The sucker brook area is definitely my top spot to fish. I never really got to fish it much, just saw it in passing as it was getting dark. I have only caught fish near the docks in the Northeast, but have only been out a couple of times and fairly new to the lake. The forecast just went from brutally hot to much more comfortable but three days of potential thunderstorms. Hoping it brings it on Monday and gets it over with so I can get more time on the water. It’s probably the most beautiful spot I’ve ever fished for sure. Typically tough fishing but they have big bass too. The state record largemouth came from Dunmore and I believe at one point in time so did the state record smallmouth.

They have more than just bluegill, I just mean I have seen a large amount of them. I also know they have rainbow smelts and I’m pretty sure suckers (aka sucker brook). Not able to find the full list of panfish anywhere.

Basically everything in VT but Walleye. Largemouth and smallmouth, pike, perch, lake trout, landlocked salmon. I’ve been told by many that the north side is a great spot for channel catfish too. For baitfish they have a lot of bluegill, they’ll nip at your feet while you swim sometimes

Last year on my trek along the north shore I didn’t cover water deeper than 35’ but did not see a thermocline.

That is the spot with the weeds. I found it as it was getting dark last time I was out but plan to hit that hard. I will have to look at what the thermocline but I would guess it’s around 35’. This year has been hot but Dunmore is a little cooler than other lakes of similar size in the area. When I went along the north shore last year, I didn’t go in water deeper than 35’ but did not see a thermocline. There are many humps not even on the depth chart that I have marked as well.

Basically spinning rods excel with really light lures. Anything at least 1/4oz and preferably at least 3/8oz I can throw comfortably on a casting rod, and usually do. Some people use spinning rods to skip as well.

So next week I will be camping on Lake Dunmore. I have been out on this lake only twice, the second time was rather short and I did almost the same trek both times. The northern side (the deep side) is generally a hard bottom with one small patch of weeds - same exact size last year as it was in 2017 or 2018. Just south and around the corner of sucker brook at the south side of the deep part is a weed patch on a drop off. It is the clearest water I've ever seen as well. There are a few shoals in 20-30 feet of water that I marked on my fish finder the last time I was out but are not even on the depth chart which I plan to revisit. https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/dunmore-lake-addison-vt/ I will probably have a drop shot rigged up my entire time out, and maybe a tube, ned rig or shaky head as well. I may try deep divers in the deeper spots, and possibly a football jig or carolina rig in areas with hard bottoms and no weeds and maybe an arky head jig as I go south where there are weeds. So while I am sitting here doing my pre-fishing, I am wondering if anyone can see any spots that look promising. It is a decent sized lake but not so big I can’t make it to the south side but big enough I wouldn’t do the north and south in the same day. I launch from the state park for what it’s worth.

I have a St Croix Avid X that is 6'9" ML/XF. The cheaper 6'10" mojo bass version of this with the same blank would work very well for a dropshot.

The closest I have to single technique combos are my frog rod. I can throw other things on my frog rod like medium sized swimbaits and A-Rigs, but I largely just fish a frog on it. A flipping rod is close, but you can throw a jig, pegged T-Rig on flipping hooks or a punching rig really but it's all stuff that you would throw into heavy cover. I do have a lot of rods that are slightly less universal and geared towards certain techniques than others however. For example, I have 4 rods that throw an assortment of lures that could be accomplished with just a MH/F and a M/F.

I would probably go with a Tatula SV for weighted T-Rigs and anything else I would throw on the same rod.

I would say my worst habit is the same, or trying to get a bass on a lure that other people get in the same spot, in the same lake and I can't get a bite on but still don't give up.

Mine was probably right around 9am.

I would say I can come within a foot of my target 19 of 20 times with consistency. Not as good as many others here I'm sure, but not terrible.

The classic roboworms are good too, but I've been using these lately. I have maybe 6 different colors but Houdini has been the most productive for me in the year and a half I've used them. https://www.xzonelures.com/site/shop/detail/pro-series-deception-worm-12-pack

I'm going to assume it will be a good chunk of change either way, but the way the market is you might be able to restore and renovate it and have a nice boat for far less than the price of a new (or lightly used) one. I'm not handy with boat repairs but I've seen people drop a couple grand on a boat, fix it up and sell it for a $10k profit when all is said and done. They did all their own labor. I've seen other cases where they bought the boat, later learned the motor was shot and had to replace it but the rest of the boat was so nice that they still came out ahead. Then there are boats like this (video is kind of long, but I watched it with one of my sons and we laughed the entire way though it).

I used to be a big metalhead. My general rule was if it doesn't raise demons from hell, it's probably not for me. I still play some time to time. You may find bands like Testament, Exodus, Megadeth, Slayer, Death Angel, Heathen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Fates Warning in my playlist time to time as well as many of the older metal bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple etc who generally classify as rock these days. I play more prog and jazz and some blues these days.

This seems to be pretty normal. I have had my friends from my prior job I knew from college and some I made afterwards. Some of them never want to do anything anyway it's just the way they are, others are just too busy but try when they can and others couldn't be bothered, I usually don't ask those people to do anything anymore.

Take care of yourself first or you won't be able to go out next year. I kind of feel your pain though, no fishing makes Dean go crazy lol. I haven't made it out in a few weeks now. A few weekends ago it was in the mid 90s, and last weekend it was perfect weather but I had a friend's picnic on Saturday and a family picnic on Sunday. Even before that, with the wedding and all I haven't got out nearly as much as I would like. I have a camping trip next week and if it doesn't thunderstorm the whole time, I should get some good fishing in.

I do the same thing. It works most of the time, but when it doesn’t is when I’m out of luck.

It's not common, but if it gets really bad with braid good luck getting the knots out. I can get them out on mono or fluoro.

I would almost definitely go with something with the SV spool, whether it's a Tatula or Zillion. To me, that's the best way to see what Daiwa is about. Be sure to use it for skipping docks.