mackkie

I'm looking for quality spinnerbaits to buy, and was wondering what you guys use, and recommend as some of the best out there. Thanks!

Hi All, I am currently in experiment mode with my soft plastics, since i have got down the basics of fishing the t-rigged worm. I have been currently using the fat ikas and sweet beavers. Have you had success with sweet beavers? In what conditions would these be thrown? Also, are they a go-to bait, or would you only throw these after they have not been hitting a worm? I am just trying to get a feel as to when the best situations to throw these would be. Thanks!

Hi all, I have been fishing with the standard Senko's and *** for this past summer and i started thinking, what about an 8-10" worm up here in the northeast? I have heard of guys in the south using them with success, i was just wondering if anyone in the northeast uses them with success as well? Do they generally result in larger fish? More or less action?? Thanks

After reading RWs link, it seems like they were saying to fish this with a steady retrieve. So far, i have only been fishing it similar to a worm, just faster. i will give the rod a few pops, let it fall for a second or 2, then reel the slack and repeat. Am i better off to just give it a slow and steady retrieve?

Hi all, The swim senko is by far my biggest confidence bait and best producing bait right now. My only question with it is, i will feel 1 or 2 hard hits on it, and i will reel down and set the hook, but i wont hook them up. I feel even when i try to do a quick hookset, nothing will be there. My thoughts are that they are only hitting the end of the worm, as often times the paddle on the swim senko will be bitten off. Should i let them nibble on it a little longer before i set the hook? Should i be setting the hook sooner? I am also catching many fish with the bait, but i am trying to figure out ways to turn nibbles into more fish. Any advice is appreciated!

I was wondering with all of this heavy rain we are getting in Mass, will the fishing be really slow tomorrow? I definitely have the fishing bug right now and i want to get out as much as possible, but not if the fish will be inactive because of all this rain. Please let me know your thoughts.

Hey all, my brother and i are looking for a smaller sized lake in Maine that will produce some good action for us. We dont get to fish much, so when we go on trips (We are from Mass), we, like everyone else love to get a lot of bites/action. We have fished Cobbosseecontee Lake last year, and we are trying to find a smaller lake with less fishing pressure. I know everyone has their favorite spots and might not want to share, but if you could even send me a PM as to a favorite lake, that would be awsome! We are looking for some nice smallies!

Thats the one, i dont know the specifics of the rod, just know its a st. croix and he had 30lb braid spooled up, it was one heck of a fight! Geez! i finally get a little outside of my fashion comfort zone and all i get is comments from the peanut gallery! ;D they are a little bright, maybe it helped

Hi all, ill keep it short and sweet. I went out with a family friend striper fishing a week or so ago on the north shore of MA. We did about 4 hours of fishing due to time, (spanning over 2 days). We started out with 2 keepers on day 1 (shown below, 40", and a 38"). Day 2 was good for 7 keepers, all caught within 40 minutes or so (ranging from 36" - 30"). Every time i go out with this family friend, he always puts us on good fish, but this time was extra exciting! I have to admit, this big boy really pulled some drag on the initial hit! Shot at 2008-08-05

Dave, to cap off the whole project, I would really like for you to post your first fish caught with it. Excellent job and good luck!

I'm leaving for a trip this week to fish a lake w smallies and trout, the average depth is 11 feet throughout the 8,000 acres lake. There's one deep spot with 40 feet of water, and 2 large rivers flowing from it. The water temps on the lake are still cold, about 55-60, spawn just finished recently, and fish are supposed to be aggresive. Given this, what would you guys be fishing in this type of lake, and what structure and areas should be focused on? Thanks for the help!

Where is the launch you are talking about on the Sudbury? Do you launch small boats in there, or could a 17' bass boat fit in there?

I'm heading up next week, does anyone have tips on the lake, or anything they had luck with this year so far? Thanks

Hey guys, I have a pack of the sweet beavers because i have heard some good things about them. My question is, what is the best way to fish with them? Is the rule of thumb to fish these anywhere you would fish a worm? Should they be rigged weightless? Should they be hopped slowly across the bottom of ledges? Can they be effective in heavy cover like weeds and lily pads? Are some water temps and conditions better than others to fish this in?

I have the strike king king shad in the blue gizzard shad color. I fished this for about 1/2 hour on one of my fishing trips. I caught a 1lb smallmouth off of a rocks point on an island. It was a clean hookset, right in the side of his mouth. I will say this dived deeper than i expected (10+ feet or so), which was nice, as i was able to get it to the depth i was looking for off of the rock ledges. I will say that i definately have not used it nearly enough to give an opinion on it. Hope that helped some.

Nice report! I am thinking about heading there this weekend. Do you stick to the islands for the most part?

Hey all, I was killing it today fishing with my swimsenko. As I was landing many fish, this is usually what happened: I would throw the bait out, the paddle part would get hit, but no fish. When I reeled in, there was no paddle part to my swimsenko. That got me to thinking: would fish get harmed by eating the soft plastic? My guess is they would just spit it after hitting the bait, but i was just curious. Just to let you know, the majority of my fish hit when there was no paddle on the swimsenko, so dont be afraid to use it when just the worm piece is still in tact.

Hey guys, I decided to head down to my local lake to practice fishing soft plastics. This is something i need to start mastering if i want to catch more fish. I grabbed 2 packs of my *** (black and green/black flake) and hit the lake. As I kept fishing with the worms, i felt like i was losing "touch" with my plastic as i casted around 30-35 feet or so. I felt with the long cast and semi-slack line, that i wouldnt feel any taps/hits on my worm. Is this all in my head? Will i really feel anything on a long cast if a fish does bite? Can the only thing i do is line watch when my worm is falling after the cast?

Great - thats the info i was looking for! It seems like i will first need to look into a new battery charger and see if i really need a new battery. Based on the above post, it seems like trickle chargers are no good.

Thanks for the tips.

Hey guys, I have done some searching on this site and google, but im not finding what i am looking for...a good recommendation as to what replacement battery i should get. Currently, I am using a trickle charger (I heard these are not good for batteries??) to charge up my batteries. The charge in my trolling motor will only last for about 30 minutes before she starts losing power/dies on me. That tells me its time for a replacement. I looked on BPS and cabelas for a deep cycle marine battery, and they have got mixed user reviews. Can someone out there recommend me a good battery (that is rather affordable) that i should use? Any help/links/advice is appreciated. Thanks

Given the fact that: 1. Gas prices are so high, and 2. People seem to realize they cannot afford to keep their "toys" due to gas prices/economy, I think you should get a used boat! There are some excellent deals to be had when i was looking around last year. IMO, You can spend significantly less on a used boat and still get yourself a beauty...The first place i would look would be used if i were you...

Hey guys, I just moved into a new house. I was checking out google earth and noticed there is a 15 acre or so pond up the street from me. It appears to have limited access, as most of the pond is somewhat surrounded by houses/private property. It appears that i can access it thru an opening in the woods. The good news is, because of the limited access, i am fairly confident is gets rarely fished, if at all. Question: What would your approach be to a new pond? I read a few RW posts about his approach to the new pond he fished a month or 2 ago, but i want to hear some new england guys put in their .02. My approach would be a pretty basic tactic: A spinnerbait or crank to find some fish, then slow it down with a wacky rig or t-rig. Any other suggesions? I am pretty excited, and im hopeful that this pond that is walking distance from my house can be my new secret hideout

Hmm, i just clicked the link and got this: "Due to overwhelming interest regarding the Bad Boy Spokesperson Finalists, we have experienced greater than expected traffic. We have taken the vote offline for maintenance. We will be back soon ..." Please let us know when its back online for us to vote. Best of luck to her!

Thats good to hear. Where about in Central MA do you like to go around here? I have been to Ft Meadow (Marlboro) and Chauncy (Westboro). I am looking to expand into some other good fishing waters around here, but cant seem to come up with many others? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks! And my .02, respect the wildlife and dont mess with fish population because you happen to like catching just bass. Trust me, i get just as mad when i catch a pickerel, but no matter what i catch, i catch and release.