superkamikazee

Haven't able to make it out in a while, but finally got a chance to hit the water last weekend. Only out for 2 hrs, managed to land this 2.5lb'r. Pretty sure I missed the spawn, and this one was a late spawner or still hanging out near a bunch of empty beds. I also believe I caught this same fish 30 mins apart lol, same weight and torn fins.

A little slow lately, a lot of dinks, so I was happy to get something decent. Also, my first fish on a soft plastic (senko). I usually only fish hard baits, and frogs. Next cast caught this guy on the senko, near the same laydown. And a PB Crappie for me lol, on a jerkbait

Been raining a lot here lately, Connecticut River appears to be at flood stages, the Oxbow is completely flooded. I'm sticking to smaller lakes and ponds for the moment, still higher than normal levels, and I haven't had good luck. Going out this afternoon, try my luck. Have a jig with a rage craw tied on, wacky rig senko, chatter bait, and a jerkbait. See what happens. Based on info in the thread, I should be beating up the banks, and any brush against the banks.

Good to know, I've actually been having a hard time with the chatterbait blade not starting or just stopping on retrieve.

I used snaps for crank, jerk, and some top water like whopper ploppers. Haven't tried them for soft plastics like t-rig, jig, or wacky rig. Have thought about it, but worried about snagging up on stuff with the snap in grass or weeds. Soft body frogs I tie on. I haven't been removing the split rings, but it sounds like i should be when using snaps.

It's crazy, spring is supposed to be the good bite season, but I think the heavy amount of rain and flooding is really throwing me for a loop out there. Hoping things change before I miss the pre spawn bite.

Not that dirty. Picked up some senko's and some weedless wacky rig hooks. That will be my hail mary setup I guess lol. All I have is a 2 lb pickerel, and a few 1-1.5 lb bass...

My first outting this spring was pretty successful all things considered. I went to one small lake, it's generally very shallow, max 11' in one spot, average 5' deep. Wasn't having luck there, water temp 50-52F, so I moved to a pond across town. Pond is much deeper but has plenty of shallows, caught 3 fish in 2 hours 55-57F water, up shallow 3' of water, mostly on a shallow crank. I have been going back to said pond that I had good luck in, and have gotten skunked or caught one dink. Weather has been warming, as has the water. But recently we have had a ton of rain. I tried fishing the same shallows I was before, but didn't have any luck with a jerkbait, crank bait, chatter bait, or jig. I found plenty of new shallows, and that's where I found a boat load of blue gill and pumpkin seed. They we're hanging out in flooded areas in 2' of water. I tried fishing in these new shallow flooded areas as well as the outskirts, still no luck. With the 10 day forecast mostly rain, I'm stumped on how to fish this productive pond I've had success with before. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Checking in from Western MA as well. Water's been open for like 2 weeks around me, but only recently have I gotten any bites. Went out 4 times the last 2 weeks, immediately after ice out, struggled to get any action. Rivers are flowing too fast, and too high, so those were a bust, and with lakes and ponds I've been searching for that magical 55+ water temp, finally found it this past weekend. Drove by the Oxbow, and the water looks HIGH. Not sure how I'd fare in there with a kayak lol.

First fish of 2019. I've been skunked the last 4 times I've been out, the water is finally hitting 50F+. Had to leave a lake and head over to this pond to get a catch, the other lakes water temps barely hit 50-52F, this ponds north side was 55-57F. Fish were caught up shallow, 2-3ft. Nothing special but I'm happy to finally be on the board for 2019. 2lb 1.5lb 1lb

Finally got the skunk off, and found some fish. The key was finding the warm water, the north and east side of the pond were 55-57 F, and the west side and south side were 50-52 F. I caught the fish in 55 degree+ water, up very shallow 2-3 ft of water. Also, I was originally at another lake, but water temps were only 50 degrees, so I packed up after a few hours, and drove over to this pond. So glad I did, it was incredibly satisfying to catch these fish even though it was nothing big, but no complaints from me lol. So I'm officially on the board for 2019. 2lb Pickerel 1.5lb bass

If it makes anyone feel any better, water temps hit a high of 41 F. That was the high, air temp was 50 degrees. Need the water temp to get a little closer to 45-50 F before things pick up. Might be a slow few weeks on my waters.

With the whopper plopper only being a few bucks more I don't see the point in getting the berkley. WP is tried and true, and it's basically a forever bait unless you're throwing them into trees.

Went out Sunday, got skunked, but still nice to get there. Next week looks even warmer so that's a plus.

Can't wait to see your next documentary!

I don't think I'm going to make it haha. We had a week of 50-60 degree weather, now it's back down in the 30's, some mid 40's this week, some snow on the forecast and back down to the 30's for next week. That 60 degree got my hopes UP lol.

I ordered my Aird-x from amazon, full filled by Amazon but the rods had Academy tags on them. Came in a regular box, foam around the top guide. One of the boxes was bend, and the lower guide was flattened. Had to do the whole exchange process. Not worth it buying rods on Amazon tbh.

I was just out ice fishing saturday, probably around 6"-8" of ice. Hoping for open water in the coming weeks. Recent temps have been great, and the long range forecast looks promising. Maybe out on the kayak in the next few weeks? lol

I'm also using a Deeper sonar, Deeper Pro+, there is a boat mode. I am typically fishing water with a max depth of 30 ft, and I use the Deeper to find structure and vegetation. I also use it for ice fishing, in ice fishing mode, works great. It's the versatility and simplicity that initially sold me on the Deeper, no big batteries, wiring, clutter etc, and after using it for a season I can easily recommend it to someone looking for a simple but versatile depth finder. I have it attached to my kayaks dashboard with the Deeper flex mount, and I can remove it if I take my kid out for a paddle, 2 seater kayak. The charge on the deeper lasts about 6.5 hrs in warm weather, and about 5.5 hrs ice fishing. I bring a small battery pack with me if I need to recharge anything while I eat lunch on the water if necessary. I bought a used cheap $30 Nexus 7 tablet as the monitor, and a cup holder mount for the tablet. The Deeper software is also available on iOS devices.

I don't think I'll know until it happens with the weather we've been having the last few weeks lol

I was wondering the same thing, spring prep lol.

Up in the north east, a 5#er sure does feel rare unless you're fishing for smallies at the reservoir. So they're either very smart or just few and far between. I catch plenty of 2-3# bass but haven't got anything near 5#. Maybe this year? Lol

Added some square bills to round out my box, and spent some time organizing things while watching the snow melt. I didn't have any natural colors, so since I was already at cabelas. And the top water box. Never tried a spook before, and grabbed the pop r just in case. Still have some LTB stuff I need to go through and organize, mostly soft plastics.

Fishing trip last fall

Old thread but figured this is the correct place to post this. Wilderness Systems Pamilco 135T I use this kayak for tandem paddling with the kiddo and wife, as well as fishing. The front seat can slide to the middle and be used solo, leaving me lots of room in the back seat for my gear / rods. Bought the Wilderness Systems Pungo dashboard, fits the Pamilco perfectly, and mounted a Deeper Pro+ fish / depth finder on it. I use an old Nexus 7 tablet as my display for the Deeper. This setups been a great all around kayak for weekend paddling trips or all day fishing trips solo or tandem.