gjfisher

Can you recommend a better alternative to the zoom super fluke? I am looking for a 5 inch soft jerk bait that's a bit bulkier than the super fluke but not as long or large as the zoom magnum fluke. I used to fish the F&S sugar jerk 5 inch bait and really like the action of the tail in the water and the casting distance. They don't appear to make them any more, at least I couldn't find them in the pearl white color that I am looking for. Now I am fishing the zoom super fluke but do not like it as much.

Got out this afternoon after work. Caught a few 1-1.5lb LMB on a square bill. Fished topwater after 7pm. Missed two good fish on a frog. Switched to a whopper plopper and got this solid 4lb fish! Most spectacular topwater catch I've ever had!

Fished a pond in south shore yesterday morning for about 3.5 hours in my kayak. Had about 10 fish--8 bass and 2 yellow perch. Nothing big. As I was fishing a ned rig with my medium light setup, I hooked onto something in 12 feet of water that I thought was the biggest fish of the day. When I finally reeled it in, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a spinning setup (mojo bass rod/symetre 3000fj reel) that someone had dropped in the water. The rod was in okay shape but the reel needs to be taken apart and thoroughly cleaned. This was the first time ever I successfully "caught" a rod & reel. Two years ago I lost a setup when a hooked 5 lb pickerel jumped from my kayak into the water as I put the rod down to look for my pliers. I returned to the same spot the next day and spent two hours trying to use a bottom rig to fish my setup out of the water, only to no avail. Then I realized how dumb I was--the pickerel must have swam away with it! Let me know if the mojo bass rod and symetre reel belong to you. I am happy to return them to their owner.

I went out for the first time this year last week, before the cold front hit. On Thursday I bank fished Hail Reservation in Westwood to try a new rod and a few new lures accumulated over last year's holidays. Got 6 LMB in about an hour, all dinks. Hail has been mostly a dink factory for me the last few years; I don't think I've caught anything more than 3lbs there. On Friday took my kayak out on the Charles for a couple hours and got 4 pickerels and a 3.5 lb LMB on a square bill.

I got my share of the Flash for less than $2.00 a bag. I still have 20-30 bags left.

Ebay has a $15 coupon for use on their app (for spending $75 or more). Enter code PSAVEONAPP. It expires 10pm ET today. Just used it to grab a Tatula CT 7.3:1 LH reel for $74.95 shipped. Sweet!

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After two disappointing outings (one dink and couple picks each time) earlier last week, I fished a pond on the cape Thursday morning. This time I got half a dozen LMB's, the largest at 4.0lb even. Most fish came on a 5 inch z-man chatter trickstick with the front treble hook removed. It's been slower for me this fall vs. last fall in terms of both number and quality but I am hopeful that with the weather, we still have a few weeks of good fishing left!

Where did you fish at Whitehall? It's a tough lake to figure out for me as well, but I have had luck at the southern end of the lake (where the steep drop off is and also near the dam). I started to keep a log this year. I have an engineering degree and my goal is to try to figure out patterns of "where, when, what and how" things worked or didn't work from those logs. However, I am careful not to take this too far so I fall into a trap where I only follow patterns that led me to success (some of those could be false BTW) and do not continue to experiment different approaches that allow me to learn and become a better fisherman.

Fished Stump pond in Bridgewater for about 3 hrs Sunday morning. Tough bites. Started with topwater--frog, sebile walker and whopper plopper--got nothing. Switched to a spinner--nothing but pickerels. Finally tried Texas rig--worms, big ika and pit boss--got 3 LMB. The pickerels were big and aggressive but not the bass--biggest was only 2 lbs. Weeds were starting to die in a lot areas of the pond. The bites should start to get good in 1-2 weeks!

Thanks for the pointer, Fishing Rhino. Yeah I tend to over tighten the drag, and that usually happens after I have a good fish on and she starts pulling the line. I would then turn the drag almost all the way and in a few instances the fish managed to break loose if I didn't get a good hookset. I have to correct that!

Janderson45 I feel your pain, having lost at least 4 big fish just recently within 10 feet of the boat. Every time that happened, I asked myself what I would do differently? One time, I would have landed the fish if I used my net. Another time, I should have checked my leader and retied. I am still a beginner bass fisherman but every time a experience like this made me a bit better. For example, now I set hook a lot harder when I fish from my kayak. When I fish a crankbait and hook a big one, I keep tension on the line and my rod tip down to keep it from going airborne. Like you, after I lost a big fish, I replayed the fight in my head at least 100 times. Sometimes I found things that I would do differently. Other times I just threw up my hands and said "man, that's bad luck". I am curious, in your case, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently that may have helped you land that big fish? Use a different setup? Throw a different bait?

Fished cape cod this morning. Slow day, only 6 bass. Biggest was this 4lb 4oz LMB, also had two that were 2-2.5 lbs. All fish came in the first hour. Once the sun came up the bites slowed down, all I got were two pickerels.

MassYak, whitehall is usually tough for me as well, especially in the summer. It definitely holds some nice fish.

Fished Whitehall Friday morning in my kayak. It would've been my best day bass fishing this year had I not lost a huge fish due to a broken line. Caught this 5.2lb LMB about 30 minutes after launch, then bagged two 2.5lb LMBs within the next 20 minutes. Over excited, I forgot to check/retie my line. On my next cast, I felt something big and set the hook. A huge LMB jumped out of the water about 40 ft in front of me. It looks to be even bigger than the 5.2 I caught earlier (could beat my PB of 5.3). The fish dove into weeds, dragging my kayak as I struggled to reel it in. When it finally got closer, I grabbed the line with my other hand and started pulling it as the fish wrapped itself in weeds. Then my 20lb fluoro leader snapped about one inch above the hook. Boy, I still have that bitter taste in my mouth till now. In hindsight, my leader could've been frayed from the fish I caught earlier. I should remember to check my line after every catch. Lesson learned. All in all, still not a bad day with ~10 fish in about 3 hrs, including 4 over 2 lbs. I fished mostly tubes, frog, 10 inch worms and spinner baits. All but one fish came on a 4 inch tube in chartreuse color rigged on a 1/8oz jighead.

Thanks for all the helpful replies! The knot I used to tie the leader on was a uni-to-uni knot. I was fishing a tube on a 1/8oz jighead and I tied the jighead to the leader with a Palomar knot. In both instances the knots were fine but the leader broke about 1-2 inches above the jighead. I was fishing in weedy but not rocky water. So either the leader is inferior or it was badly frayed by the mouths of the bass. I will try a couple different brands and make sure that I check the line after every catch.

New member here! I normally use 20lb fluorocarbon leader and have not had any problems in heavy vegetation or rocky areas. The last two outings, however, my leader snapped twice on me when reeling in fish in weeds. In both instances the snap happened after I had caught big fish so there might have been some slight fraying on the line. The brand I use is Berkley Vanish. Should I move to higher lb test or a different brand that's more resistant to fraying (if there is such a thing)? What brand do you guys recommend? Thanks in advance!