Arcs&sparks

That pond looks great, judging by the survey! If you have a bait and tackle shop near you, that might be your best bet to find more info on the pond and get recommendations for other good places to fish. Post an update when you find your way in!

Yes you’re all set as long as the boat isn’t on the water for more than 60 days.

Don’t get me wrong with the Great Lakes comment, trolling is trolling, and the guys who commented definitely give good advice, and hopefully continue to chime in, especially about how you don’t need expensive gear. but they have much bigger fish than we have, and in general, different species of salmon. We’re (probably) not going to catch 30lb lake trout and 12lb salmon. I checked out the lake survey, last revised in 2001, if you don’t already know of this; https://www.maine.gov/ifw/docs/lake-survey-maps/hancock/donnell_pond.pdf This ^ information can be misleading since it’s normally outdated, but it suggests a good wild salmon population +++, but also suggests a low lake trout population, which can be good or bad. Instead of typing a Novel, I have a few questions; I guess the the first one would be; Have you heard that your lake has a good salmon/trout fishery? Do you have a bait&tackle shop in your area? Any pawn shops? Any Mardens!? Do you see boats out on the lake trolling frequently? Do you see fish rising, out in open water? Do you own any crankbait rods or swimbait rods? Med Lights? Instead of spending $180 on just a reel alone, I would suggest getting at least a couple combos with the money, along with using some of the rods you already own, since trolling ONE rod can be tough. With more than one you can try different depths/lures at the same time to find a pattern and adjust from there. You didn’t bring up line counters, but the reel you are looking at comes with that option. I would add that a line counter reel is kind of pointless with a downrigger, since the downrigger has a gauge, and leadcore changes color every 10yds. This is valuable for trolling weights and dipsy divers and such.. Also, to answer your question about fly reels, most modern fly reels, especially “large arbor” hold a lot more line than you might think. 130’ of fly line plus at least 100yd of Dacron backing.

I checked your profile, you’re also in Maine? I do quite a bit of trout and salmon trolling here in the spring time and normally catch my target species. I would be more than happy to discuss the topic further. What lake/s do you want to target? One rod for salmon, pike, and lake trout doesn’t seem like a good choice in my opinion. They are very different species. With downriggers you can just use your heavier bass tackle and do just fine for lake trout if you so choose. I have very few lakes with pike near me and have not specifically targeted them, but I would recommend lighter tackle for salmon. Traditional Maine salmon gear is simply trolling a (5-6wieght) fly rod with sinking line with a smelt imitation streamer fly or a sewn on shiner/smelt(live bait) in the springtime. You can use the same fly rod spooled up with some leadcore do get down a bit deeper on a sunny day or when the water is warmer. There’s a lot of other factors that I am more than willing to discuss. What you need to keep in mind is talking about salmon trolling to a guy from the Great Lakes is like talking to a bass fisherman in Florida. It’s not the same game here in Maine. These target species(bass, salmon, Lakers) will run typically smaller and different techniques are typically used.

start it up!

Hello from a fellow Mainah! There doesn’t appear to be very many of us here... out of the 2,600 ponds and lakes in Maine, I’ve unfortunately only fished a very small portion.. Your Maine Gazetteer should show boat ramps and known carry-in access. I checked the satellite image on google maps real quick and there appears to be a boat ramp at the campground(west end), you may want to check with them. I apologize if I am telling you things you already know, but you can look up most of the popular lakes and ponds my googling “pleasant pond Stetson Maine gov” for example to come up with https://www.maine.gov/ifw/docs/lake-survey-maps/penobscot/pleasant_pond.pdf keep in mind the date last revised, this is from 1997, so information can be inaccurate to present day. But this a good tool to see a general depth map, species, and other info.

I think I was born with it... It’s not describable. My father was the one who first took me fishing, and he can’t tell a bass from a trout. I was the one who would want to go “the bridge” every night, even though we hardly ever caught anything, let alone a bass :). When I was very young, instead of wanting to look at toys and video games, I’d hang out in the fishing section of Walmart while my parents were shopping, staring at all the cool lures thinking of catching the “big one”. My old man is a snowbird, he goes to FLA for the winter. When I visited him a few years ago, I suggested fishing with a guide on Stick Marsh. We were catching some nice fish pretty steadily, then I hear the guide yelling “Whoa Bob! Let’s get a picture of that!”... My father caught an 8lber when no one was looking and was about to throw it back before the guide stopped him....He.didnt.even.know.it.was.big..... Still to this this day it’s the biggest bass I’ve ever seen in person.... hahah that B******* !! That being said, he “likes” going fishing, but doesn’t have any drive about it(and can’t even hold a spinning rod the right way)

There’s big bass in my local lake that probably feed on the smaller rainbows. Here’s a couple of males I caught one night, can you tell me which lure color I should choose? ?

Is that one like a jig/worm rod or...? Im curious which rod/s I should use(actionwise). I was thinking my swimbait rods (7’11” mod/fast) because of the super long handles, and once it’s loaded up with a fish would be more like a 6’10” or something, as far as leverage is concerned.. What depths were you fishing? “The rod (a legend elite model) was MUCH more sensitive than the traditional saltwater gear we had on board,” Another reason I’d like to use heavy bass gear :) “but the nature of tautog fishing is around lots of rocks, Cod and pollack fight less, but are caught deeper, usually on sandy bottom I believe?” My understanding is that this spot is a HUGE offshore gravel plateau, washed in from the ice age melt. So I think you’re right, and large rocks shouldn’t be a factor. “One thing to keep in mind is you don't need a rod with lure ratings as heavy as your jig or sinker” ? I hear ya. I listed the specs just for detail. “Calcutta 400B, one has a tranx. They would both work perfect for cod, but are probably a bit over powered” Over powered by the fish? Or visa versa? I don’t wanna beat on these reels too bad. I was curious about that, but those Penn Senators are super slow, I did a quick search, most are about 3:1 with ~28 IPT, (and 48oz in weight lol) with the Conquest 400 at 5.6:1 ~30 IPT. Torque is definitely a factor though. Thats a sweet list of catches dude. I’ve seen a few posts from you, is there anything you haven’t caught?? Hahah. That’s a sick tuna! Those d**n saltwater guys... Also goes for some of the bass guys I know when I talk about trout fishing lol Thanks for the replies! I guess worst case if it isn’t working well, I’ll just have to use those big, cumbersome offshore combos... where the jig feels like half a brick, and with a fish on, feels like a full brick.

Looks like I’m gettin me some new tires ?

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Is that the same as white perch?

Well i didn’t have a spring keeper handy, so ignore the red hook. I was just going off your method but threading the hook through the tube and then shrinking it...

@tcbass ? you got me thinking... it came out much stronger than I thought. Doesn’t slide at all. (These Hooks used were just for experimenting) I’m sure I’m not the only one who's thought of something like this...

Great topic. I gotta give some of these a try.

@tcbass You just like it cause it’s more durable than something like a rubber band? I’m not sure if I could resist not shrinking it haha

Do you shrink the tube after?

I’m having trouble picturing this. When creeping it, does the crank stay suspended above the weight?

Come on, that’s impossible.

Spinning or casting?

I’ve caught more fish on $1.00 Walmart spinnerbaits than anything else. I have some sweet looking KVDs and some other brands but I used to catch a lot more on spinnerbaits with the small junky ones for some reason. My fish are frugal...

Pretty basic most days (Northeast) Senko type bait; Red shad Black/blue Lipless crank; Red Natural Spinnerbait; White Red Black blue Natural Top water; mostly ploppers, Spro rat, spook; Natural White Black Throw larger swimbaits quite a bit as well. Need to throw more jigs...

@Steve1357 Pretty much this^ I don’t know the inches per turn of this reel, but a gear ratio of 3.8 seems really low. With the topic being Texas rigs, a 6’ heavy rod with a big heavy slow reel seems pretty cumbersome. Most Texas rigs will in some way be fished with slack line and with a faster reel you will be able to pick up line quicker to get ready for your hook-set once you detect the strike, before they either spit it back out or swallow it. This is especially important when they decide to eat it and run strait at the boat, and when they want to jump. Also with a longer rod, you will pick up much more line on your swing also resulting in better penetration, and cast farther when you want that extra distance. I do use a 6’ medium/fast spinning rod for skipping under docks and brush, but I really have to rock my hook sets or else my hookup ratio isn’t very good. Have you tried a 6’6” or 7’ rod for worms? I understand the use for the backing, My comment was more or less suggesting that a much smaller reel will hold more than enough 14lb line for throwing t-rigs for bass. The said combo jut didn’t seem like a good recommendation(in my opinion)