jbmaine

A friend at work told me he heard the story of a 10lber being caught at a pond he fishes a lot. Back in the day I used to fish this place for trout. From what I know of this place, and what my friend says of the bass fishing there now,(if this is the same place) I'll bet more bass this size are still in there. Jim

Like others have said, waders, with a float tube if it's too deep for just waders. Jim

My wife and I fished Great East yesterday. The weather report was for 5-10 mph winds, but it was more like 10-20 mph all morning, so fishing in a 14ft tin boat was a challenge. We spent most of our time in the larger basin. Fished the weeds close to shore and the main channel. Caught pickerel but no bass. I lost one (pickerel I think) that I would have loved to have seen. Big top water blow up, rod bent over, line going out, then he broke me off. I made one cast just as a big wind gust came up. That's why if you happen to look at a particular tree, about 12ft up, you'll see a new hollow bodied frog wedged in a branch. plowed through white caps all the way back to the launch. So at the end of the day. We were wind burned. Didn't catch any bass. ( we have yet to unlock the secrets of LM on Great East and have a multi bass day) Lost a 7$$ brand new lure. Wrenched my back jumping up and down in the boat, swinging a paddle to try and reach said lure. Did not get to tweak my new sonar so that it shows fish as arches, rather than lines or blobs that I think are fish. Used up a vacation day to do all of the above. On the way home my wife and I were talking, and came to the conclusion. Even with all of the above. we had a lot of fun, can't wait to go again. Jim

Thanks, that's good advice Jim

hi all, Well the bait monkey bit real hard and I got the hummingbird helix 5 si unit to replace my old Lowrance x125. We went fishing twice in the last few days and I got a chance to try it out. Here's a few thoughts. The screen is small, but that's no surprise. You just have to understand the side images you will see will be a lot smaller and more compact than the screen shots in the ad's. That being said the si does what it's supposed to do. I have seen logs, rock piles etc clear enough to know what they were out 100 ft on either side of the boat. I have also seen what I think are fish ( small white streaks). It's easy to mark these spots but (at least for me) so far it's more complicated to call them back up and get to them. The regular sonar is crisp and very clear. I have seen what I am pretty sure are fish but so far I am getting more short lines than arches. I spent some time adjusting the angle on the transducer but I still don't think I've found the sweet spot yet. I'm also playing around with the chart speed. The bottom detail is great. I do have some criticisms. The screen has more glare on a sunny day than my old unit. I'm thinking of making a shade for it. It does not come with a cover. When not in use I wrap a towel around it to protect the screen. The manual is on cd. Call me old-fashioned but after spending 5 bills I don't think I should have to spend more to print out the instructions ( it's 160+ pages). All in all I'm glad I got it, and as I get more used to everything it will do, I'm sure it will help our fishing. On a side note- I've spent as much time putting around looking at the bottom as I have fishing. It can be addictive. Jim

hi all, We hit Great East on Thur. Horn pond yesterday, and thanks to some great advise from Bob64 we are starting to be more productive. We spent a lot of time fishing the basins on GE. Caught more pickerel than bass but had fun. Our time on Horn pond was mostly spent fishing points leading to deeper water. Didn't catch too many but still had a lot of fun. (how can you not have fun fishing). Here's a few pics As you can see from the middle pic even the little ones were hungry Jim.

As luck would have it I just bought this exact same unit. I installed it on Sunday, but between work and weather I have yet to try it. I told my boss to not be surprised if I played hookey the end of the week. Do you have any tips on getting the most and best use out of this unit? Thanks Jim

Thanks, being homemade had not occurred to me. whoever made them did a good job. they look store made. Jim

Hi all, I was cleaning out one of my tackle boxes last night and came across a clear bag with a couple of these baits in it . Both are the same. For the life of me I don't remember ever seeing these before. I can only assume I was given these at some point and forget all about them. I looked thru Cabelas and Bass pro and didn't find them. Does this bait look familiar to anyone? I'm going to use them, and if they catch fish I'd like to know where to get more. The head is weighted and the plastic is molded on the hook. From the head to the end of the tail they are 4" long. Thanks Jim

Hi all, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to a humminbird helix 5 si. I picked it up yesterday and will install it this weekend. I opened the box and took everything out. I watched the cd on all the great things this unit will do, and then watched the manual cd. It's around 160+ pages. I'll never remember all this stuff. I called Humminbird and asked if it should have come with a written manual. No sir, I was told, the manual is on cd. I explained to her I didn't have a cd player on my boat, and could they send me a written manual. I was told they could print out the manual on regular paper and mail it to me for 18$. I know this is the world we live in today, but I sure do miss the old days. Back then when you bought something, it came with everything you needed and it made sense. I'll let you know how the install goes, but first I need to run into town and pick up some kind of binder for all the paper they are sending me, and pick up a 3 amp in line fuse because the installation instructions ( such as they are) tell me it needs a fuse on the power side and guess what. It's not included. Jim

I may be naive to say this, but it seems a compromise might be to catch SM and relocate them to another body of water. You will never catch them all, but you wouldn't be killing them either. Jim

Thanks, That's a very good explanation. Sounds like it should do just fine. Jim

Hi all, I'm really starting to think about picking up one of the Hummingbird helix si units. I know the bigger the screen the better, but it's also more $$. I guess what i'm asking, is a si 5" screen just as fuctional as a larger unit? With a smaller screen do you miss things you would see with a larger screen, or is like a small tv, everything is there just more crowded. Thanks Jim

Thanks everyone I appreciate the input. Jim

I fished Great East lake on Friday. It's the first time I've been there. What a nice body of water. We got a late start and didn't put the boat in until about 9AM, but we were the only one at the launch. Needless to say the lake was not busy. We spent most of the day trying to catch LM, but darned if we could find them. However before we left I caught a few 2-3lb SM on beds. I'm not that big on bed fishing, but I wanted to have something on my line before we left. All in all a good day. Jim

Hi All, I've been thinking about upgrading to a side scan unit. I've seen the pics and videos, and there's no question what you can see with them is amazing. But at the end of the day(fishing skills and everything else being equal) do you find you catch more fish? This would be a serious investment, and I'd like to make sure it would be worth it. I'd be putting it on a 14ft Lund and replacing my current Lorance X125. The beam is not that wide. Would I have trouble with the motor blocking part of the signal? Thanks Jim

Thanks for the replies, I'll fish tubes t-rigged or with a varity of weighted "tube hooks". I mostly use coffee flavored tubes as they do catch more fish for me. It sounds like for a larger profile bait, especially in dirty water, a jig may be the way to go. I'll pick a few up and give it a try. Thanks Jim

Hi All, Forgive me if these questions are simplistic, but I was wondering what the difference/ advantages are for these two baits. I use tubes with good success, but have never tried jigs, and am trying to justify in my mind the added expense of buying, using jigs, and the added space in my tackle box to store them. From what I can tell they are both fished the same way, dragged or bounced along the bottom, and they both imitate a crayfish or other critter that bass like. I know there are times when bass seem to zero in on just one bait, but generally speaking ,is there enough of a difference between the two to have both, and if so are there "rules of thumb" to know when to use one over the other? Thanks Jim

Thanks I had drained the gas out of the motor before putting it away, and the gas in the tank went into my car. I hope starting out with fresh gas I will be OK. I plan to run the motor at my house for a bit ( with water muffs) before heading up to the lake. Thanks again Jim

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll look over the tires before I lower the trailer. I hadn't thought of sun damage. I always use Startron fuel stabilizer in the gas, so that should help, but I'll start off slow running the engine. Thanks again Jim

Hi all My wife and I have a 2006 lund WC Delux with a 20hp Honda 4 stroke motor ( both bought new). It's a perfect set up for us, and we've had many fun hours fishing with it. 2010 started out as a good year for us. I had done a complete tuneup on the motor ( oil change and filter, fuel filter, plugs, new lower end fluid). I had also had a new water pump impeller installed. ( nothing wrong with the old one, it just seemed time for a new one. We made three trips in the spring of 2010 ( even caught a new PB, 5lb LM). Then we had a dramatic change in our lives and knew we wouldn't be fishing for a while. I ran all the gas out of the motor, dribbled some oil in the cylinders and rotated them a couple of times ( as per the Honda manual). Put the motor on a motor stand and stored it in my heated basement. I jacked the boat trailer up ( so the wheels were off the ground) and pumped new wheel bearing grease in. It's a Karavan trailer with thru the axle lubrication, ( you pump grease in until you see new grease coming out the front. Now after almost two years it seems our life is getting back to normal and we are ready to start fishing again. So what I am wondering, is the motor ready to go as is? It's only had about 2hr run time since the last tune up, but it's been sitting for almost 2 yrs. I hate to spend the $$ for another tune up enless I need to. The trailer bearings should still be good ( I would think?) I've never changed them, but have been anal about pumping new grease in every three or four trips. Total milage on the trailer is around 1500-1800 miles. So what do you think? Am I ready to go as is, or should I do maintance on the motor/trailer before going? Thanks It's good to be back Jim

Hi All, My wife and I just took our last fishing trip for the foreseeable future. Don't get me wrong, we love fishing, it's our main leisure activity all during the warm weather months. However, after being unemployed for some time I finally picked up a job. Great news for us, except this job calls for a lot of overtime. It looks like I'll be working at least six days a week for a year or more. Considering that the nearest lake we fish is a good hour away ( which shoots down fishing after work) , and I still have a house/yard to take care of, we reluctantly decided to put down the fish poles until we have time to really get back into it. As I don't start my new job until next week, yesterday we decided to take one more trip. We got up to the lake around 10 A.M. It was about 60 degrees out, overcast and calm. Water temp was 67, perfect for fishing. Before I go any further let me tell you about my wife. She has medical issues that have resulted in very little strength in her hands and arms. The only reel she can use is a Zebco spincast and her casting is more of a two handed lob. As is, if she hooks anything of size she has to hand her rod to me to reel it in. But I'll tell ya, she catches a lot of fish! Now back to the story. We launch the boat and put over to a cove. I shut off the motor and reach for my pole. Before I can wet a line my wife starts hollering " grab the pole, grab the pole. I got a fish!" I grab her pole, yank back to set the hook and realize it's a big fish. A couple of minutes later it's in the boat. It was a five pound ( best I could weigh on my cheap scale , not a monster but real good for Maine waters) LM. 21 1/2 inches long. It was also her PB by a pound and the largest fish we have caught in the lake. It was also, I think, a fitting end to our current fishing adventures. Two things before you see the pics It's me holding the bass. I'm not trying to steal my wife's thunder but she literally doesn't have the strength to hold it up. If you ever think a little Zebco spincast reel can't handle a big fish, we respectfully disagree. Here's a couple of pics Thanks for looking P.S. she caught it on a senko in a foot of water JB

Sounds like you had a great trip. Square pond is one of the nicer bodies of water in this area. I love being able to see the bottom 8-10 ft down. I assume you were fishing the shore line? I've caught some nice SM there but so far have not hooked a LM. JB

Hi all, Spent a few hours out on mousam this week. Instead of the fishing picking up it seems to be slowing down. The SM seem to be starting to head back into deeper water. Only caught two, both at about 10 ft depth. Hit the shallower parts of the lake for LM and got zip. Have fished this lake for years and have never seen the LM fishing so slow. I'm beginning to wonder if the fish in this lake are on a decline. I started this post hoping to find some more fisherman in the area to compare notes with, something like the NH guys are doing. A Lot of people have read this but input has been minimal at best. It hardly seems worth the bother to continue. JB