jaystraw

I caught her not too far from the launch off the shore on the left side of the pond. It's funny because it was my first visit there. I almost exclusively use 4 and 5 inch senkos. I think i am going to try going a little bigger though as I've heard some good things from other people just recently.

Thanks guys! I'm still psyched today. Me and my buddy went last night and caught a bunch of fish,. Nothing huge, but really steady action until we got rained out around 8:00PM.

That sounds like a really good time. I'm in as long as we have nothing going ont that day. Here's a pic on my new PB I caught this AM on a watermelon senko at Halfmoon Pond in Hancock (before ther boys and girls camp woke up and started their day...ugg): 6lbs 12 oz beauty! video (warning: there is some rough language at the very end of the video because I was so excited, so watch the kids!)

Nice job guys! Great video!

wagn, I had luck with grubs and jerkbaits early in the season, but once spawn hit I've been just killing it with plastics and spinners. Now that spawn is past in a couple of the smallmouth places I fish, they seem to have gone back to jerkbaits and still are hitting spinners, but not plastics as much unless I find one still spawning. unhbass, I'm not sure where you live, but most of the good smallie places I know about are in the Hillsborough/Sutton/Newbury area or up north. Gregg Lake in Antrim is a good one as well as Nubanusit and Spoonwood in Hancock. There are a ton more, but those are an excedllent start. I just had a 30+ smallie day at Nubanusit(guessing, I do not count my fish once I catch more than a few), with a couple giants like the one above. But, they were spawning and that made it easy to find them.

well, there's also tourneys during 5/15-6/15 and I assume those guys keep thier fish in the livewell. The schedule is up on the fish and game website, so it must be fine as long as they get back in the water. now to get this thread back on track, I've been too busy fishing smallmouth to post any of my own pics in a while. Here's a 3lb 1oz smallie from Nubanusit

Oh boy, I'm getting my popcorn now for this discussion. ;D I'm on the fence about this one. The law does say catch and release/no live bait thru June 15th. I doubt a fish and game warder would/could have busted wagn for not "immediately" releasing the fish. The law is just not that clear that I can tell. But, I agree these fish could and were probably spawning at that time. I also doubt they will go back to the specific beds if taken away a goodly distance from them and kept in the livewell for a while. But, I'm also not sure that its a huge deal. They will probably all still spawn, maybe just somewhere else. The females can spawn multiple times over the spawning season, so its not the end of the line.

yeah, I did not notice the rounded mouth in the first shot. It's a sucker for sure.

Nice fish wagn! Great job!

I'm pretty sure tht's a creek chub.

Nice fish!! I got out today and did pretty well. I caught about 10 smallies and abut 15 largemouth. I caught most on senkos and inline spinners. good day, but it got real windy and I left earlier than usual...around 2pm. Nothing big, only one that was about 3 lbs. I did notice that most of the reall shallow water beds are gone, but the deeper ones are still there.

I throw the same bait back, and then follow with a senko/creature bait

Nice job wagn! I'm gonna have to brave the weather and get out tomorrow for a few. Good luck this weekend everyone.

so, back to wagn's question about beds. I've been seeing a TON of beds everywhere I go. The deeper, clearer lakes seem to be a week behind the smaller ones. In some of the lakes I fish, I've already seen fry swimming in the water. In fact, I think the smallmouth first wave of spawning may already be over. I've been able to catch them on senko and inline spinners. I've also seen largemouth on beds, but not as many and they seem easier to spook. Especially the really shallow water fish. Seems like I have to stay back about 20-30 feet or they will not bite while on the beds yet. Not as easy to catch, most on senkos. Also, in the AM most beds looked empty, but by 10-11:00am, the fish had moved up onto them. That's my observations from the lakes I've fished from Hillsboro to Sutton. Also, here's some pictures of a bear I saw swimming across Loon Pond in Hillsboro while I was fishing Sunday. youtube link:

I caught a couple largemouth that were four pounds. Here's one of them from Gile Pond in Sutton. 4" senko just off the first weed line outside the spawning flat. Caught around 7:30PM. Biggest smallie was 3 pounder from Deering Reservoir. Caught off a bed around 3:00pm with a 4" senko.

Nice job guys!

I went out this AM to hit up Long Pond in Henniker. Unfortunately, the GPS coordinates in Clarks bring you to private property now. :-( So, I went over to Pleasant Pond in Henniker/Deering (it's right on the line). I thought the fish would be in the rocks, but they were in the extreme shallows on beds (for the most part). I caught a bunch of really nice largemouth on senkos, and one on a green pumpkin swim jig, actually swimming the jig.

I've never fished it, but Rindge is packed full of good water to fish from what I've heard. I went out this afternoon and all the fish and beds I saw on Saturday were gone. There were a couple beds, but they looked like they had been left unattended for a while. Its so weird. I did not think it got that cold this week... Very strange. anyway, I still found a few good, solid largemouth and a few nice smallmouth, all on senkos near rocks in shallow water.

My favorite topwater bait. Smallmouth LOVE them...until they feel the hooks that is.

Have you guys tried hitting the Merrimack river yet? I've heard great things about it.

Wow! that's a hog of a smallie! glad to hear you had good luck wagn. Sorry to hear about theone that got away on your Dad. I went out on Saturday and had a great day. Lots of 2lb to 4lb largemouths hanging out in trees in the water just waiting for my senko. I've also had a lot of luck with smallies on regular mepps spinners in purple and yellow.

it will turn around for you soon unhbass. Even with the decent amount of fish I'm catching, it seems a little slower than last year. I'm assuming things will pick up soon when we get some extended warmer weather and some strong sunny days. At least, I hope so! I went out yesterday and caught a few smallmouth on a BPS 3" sticko, and a huge pickeral and perch on a grub on a jig head. It was pretty slow much of the day, and I saw about 200 empty beds and one fish on one bed.

The last couple times I've been out I seen a lot of beds and a few fish on them. Anyone else seeing this in NH?

No, I did not end up heading over there. My friend in Bradford wanted to go, so I went with him to a small pond over there. It was good action, but they were all pretty small. Here's a smallie from this an:

Nice Fish! I went out today on a pond in Sutton and did pretty well. I caught about 10, all the fish out of tree's with a senko. I did run into a guy thathad caught about 5-6 using topwater.' I guess it's never too early for topwater!