18 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Idk what a bass is

 

You know very well what a bass is .... now get your butt down to that nice little SMB pond, go to the north corner where it drops to 8-10' and drop a tube in there and let it sit.  You'll get your bass.

 

I drove over the bridge this morning in hopes for some smallie action.  It was cloudy with light winds from the South so I figured I was in for some success.  Like yesterday, NOBODY wanted anything with a treble hook on it, a bladed jig, jig, or drop shot.  I marked a lot more fish than the pond I fished yesterday. They were stuck to the bottom.  

 

Again, in the 9th inning I grabbed a 1_10 SMB with awesome colors by letting a 3.8" Smallmouth Magic Keitech soak while I picked out a bird's nest.

 

Water temps were 49.x - 50.x and the air pressure was 29.5.  

 

I had a lot of problems with gear, but ONE is better then NONE....

20mph sustained winds, air temps in the 40s, water temp 47 at launch. No way they’re shallow I tell myself, best go look on the drops outside the spawning areas. So we did that for about 4 hours in the morning fighting the relentless wind and freezing our ass off on the main lake.
 

Then about mid day we pass by the shallowest area of the entire lake on the northernmost tip. For the hell if it we go shallow and find the temps just barely above 50….yea, guess where the bass were. DIRT. SHALLOW. 
 

Thats what I get for thinking I know anything about this sport I guess lol. Anyways, I ended up with 10 bass and my dad with 6, all on spinnerbaits. Kind of a weird bite though, they would follow it and only seemed to hit if you paused it for a half second and let it drop briefly. All pretty decent fish with lots of fight in them, probably all under 3lbs but a few were close. No signs of beds but they were definitely making the push to scout things out. 

31 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Thats what I get for thinking I know anything about this sport I guess lol.

Just like women, huh?

31 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Kind of a weird bite though, they would follow it and only seemed to hit if you paused it for a half second and let it drop briefly. 

I find this happens a lot this time of year. I catch a tonnnn of fish when fishing a jerkbait and stopping to pick out a backlash, or adjust the trolling motor settings/boat position. 
 

I know this but I’m not patient enough to pause for that long myself🤣

8 minutes ago, BigEyedF11sh said:

I know this but I’m not patient enough to pause for that long myself🤣

Sounds VERY familiar! 

43 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

No signs of beds

Suckers were on beds at my favorite Plymouth fishing hole.

Found a thread on here with some better casting alternatives to the shad rap so I busted out the credit card to do some of my own research.

 

Berkeley Flicker Shad 7: 1/3oz, 11-13ft depth

 

Duo Realis Rozante Shad: 1/4 oz, 5-8ft

 

Megabass Flapslap: 3/8oz, 7 ft depth (after converting 2.1 meters to freedom units)

 

For reference the shad rap is listed at 5/16oz.

 

The Megabass looks super tasty in the package, as does all MB stuff and I’m excited about the significantly heavier weight. 

The duo realis is suspending which really excites me, great for those pause-retrieves we were talking about this time of year.

 

and the Flicker shad basically looks like a knockoff of the flicker shad but it supposedly dives an extra 4-5 feet which will be nice to diversify the portfolio.

13 hours ago, BigEyedF11sh said:

Found a thread on here with some better casting alternatives to the shad rap so I busted out the credit card to do some of my own research.

 

Berkeley Flicker Shad 7: 1/3oz, 11-13ft depth

 

Duo Realis Rozante Shad: 1/4 oz, 5-8ft

 

Megabass Flapslap: 3/8oz, 7 ft depth (after converting 2.1 meters to freedom units)

 

For reference the shad rap is listed at 5/16oz.

 

The Megabass looks super tasty in the package, as does all MB stuff and I’m excited about the significantly heavier weight. 

The duo realis is suspending which really excites me, great for those pause-retrieves we were talking about this time of year.

 

and the Flicker shad basically looks like a knockoff of the flicker shad but it supposedly dives an extra 4-5 feet which will be nice to diversify the portfolio.

Does the Megabass or DUO have a weight transfer system? I would fish crankbaits so much more if they casted better in the wind. I think that’s why I lean so heavily on spinnerbaits and chatter baits as my go to search baits. 

Got out again yesterday same lake. It was warmer but just as windy. Was hoping the warmer sunshine would encourage them to keep pushing shallow but they seemed to have pulled back a bit. I still got 8 but overall smaller fish and they were way more finicky. I think the overnight temps dipping into the upper 30s with the cold front the day before probably shocked the shallow temps enough to discourage them a bit. Water temps in the same areas we had been fishing the day before were about 2 degrees cooler. 
 

I feel like I'm gonna miss the prespawn again, gonna hit and disappear the same day

Lost a chunk last night, brutal loss at the bank. I could tell it was well past 5#, looked closer to 6+ as it bounced off the bank and back into the water. 

 

But bagged this crazy basstard this morning

 

Got out yesterday for the morning bite. Was hoping they moved shallow, very slow and scattered fish. Nothing good. Still on the struggle bus this season. Got 3 dink bass in 6 hours of fishin

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Still on the struggle bus this season.

 

You'll get'm soon enough.  This weekend's warm weather should push a few more up for you.

There were rollers and white caps pounding my usual pond’s ramp so I went down the street to the back up pond; got my teeth kicked in for 8 hours.

 

Only bass I got to bite was on 3.5inch paddle tail on a 1/8oz dimiki head, shakin it like I was strolling.

 

caught enough Crappie for a hell of a fish fry, never really understood crappie guys but after the 25th crappie today I could see how that could be fun.

On 4/20/2025 at 6:48 PM, BigEyedF11sh said:

 

caught enough Crappie for a hell of a fish fry, never really understood crappie guys but after the 25th crappie today I could see how that could be fun.

I’ve only caught one crappie so far this year… every time I go out I hope to get on that crappie every cast bite. I’m not a crappie guy but I’ve had 100 fish days that were a real blast.

I’m on the crappie train. Can’t catch a d**n bass but the crappies, pickerel  and trout are bitting. 

I took a shot at NH this morning. Marked almost nothing.  No real signs of life other than a couple turtles and a bald eagle.  Little or no new vegetation.  There were a fair amount of fresh water clams. Threw the normal assortment: bladed jig, different jerk baits, lipless, and cranks.  Also a couple different colored jigs, creature baits, and wacky Senkos.

 

There were two kids on a crawdad looking boat that also had no luck.

 

I didn't last long.  Couldn't get a groove going and with no signs of life, I packed up and went home.

 

Water temps were 56.x - 57.x, winds were 8-10 mph from the West, and the air pressure was 30.2.  I would say it was pretty bluebird-ish.  Another day.

Hit the local lake today. I ended with 10 but it felt like a grind, couldn’t really put together much of a pattern. Fish were shallow but not on beds and didn’t seem in a very active mood just kind of wandering around exploring. I didn’t catch any of much size biggest was probably 2lbs. Water temps were touching 60 on the northern shore but the main basin was 54. I got a few on spinnerbaits but very finicky reaction bites. The rest came on a jig. 

No bass this morning before work but got on that crappie bite I’ve been looking for. Air temp was 44 at 5 am, 51 by 7:30 when I had to leave for work… didn’t get water temp, wind was non-existent which is what made me drag myself out of bed at 4:15.

Slow day today only got 3 bass. Lots of activity in the shallows…just not bass haha. Tons of turtles out, I passed a huge snapper and snatched him for a closer look haha. He was pretty docile. 
 

The carp have also made their move shallow, saw some big ones roaming around. 

 

Got out on The Nip today. It was calm in the early morning and we caught the tail end of a top water bite. I got a 4-3, 3-8, and a smaller one on swimbaits quick. Once the top water bite died it was a slow day. I managed a 3-5 later in the day on a windblown shore on a spinnerbait and a 3-0 on a jig but other than that it was piecing together smaller fish here and there. The wind really picked up before we left and seemed to reignite the smaller ones but we had had enough at that point. Water temps between 61 - 65. 

On 4/23/2025 at 4:40 PM, MassYak85 said:

it felt like a grind, couldn’t really put together much of a pattern.

 

Same in Maine. I can catch bass, but only here and there.

 

18 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I got a 4-3, 3-8

 

Two nice ones!

Drove to Plymouth at the crack of dawn hoping for some smallmouth action.  Weather was perfect so off I went.  Managed 3 good picks, an OK pick, and a F A T white perch on a green pumpkin/blue @Siebert Outdoors bladed jig, a 5" green w/purple & gold flake Senko, and a new Rapala PXR jerkbait in "emerald shad".  I couldn't get any cooperation from an underspin or different jigs.

 

By 0900 the winds were about 10 mph and by 1100 they were 18-20 sustained.  My good ole Lure 11.5 was useless, so I packed it in, almost tipping over twice OTW back to the truck.  Too bad too, because I had some pretty marks in the wind blown shoreline.

 

Water temps were 56.x when I launched and 60.X when I left.  My marked fish were suspended in deep water but I  saw one small group of minnows tight to shore along the southern beach in a cove.

 

I'll be in NH/VT from May 2nd to the 9th, hopefully fishing every day.  I'll be on the water on the 4th with Sean Snover of ReelNorthernBass, a NH fishing maniac and YouTuber that would fit in nicely with the BR family.  He's touting a new PB for me. We'll see next week.

 

I saw two bald eagles on the pond too.

 

Good luck to everyone getting out, it's FINALLY here!

44 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

By 0900 the winds were about 10 mph and by 1100 they were 18-20 sustained.  My good ole Lure 11.5 was useless, so I packed it in, almost tipping over twice OTW back to the truck.  Too bad too, because I had some pretty marks in the wind blown shoreline.

As much as I hate the wind I can't deny howe successful I have been fishing windblown shores in absolutely miserable wind gusts haha. I think that's one of the main reasons I lean on spinnerbaits as my go-to search bait. Still being able to drive a cast through nasty wind. 

7 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

As much as I hate the wind I can't deny howe successful I have been fishing windblown shores in absolutely miserable wind gusts

Maybe with my Ranger, but swells were 2+ ft, just too much for my kayak.

I lost my first big fish of the season the other day. I think it could’ve been pushing 7lbs. Went to land it and my leader snapped. That one really hurt. I haven’t broke 3lbs yet this year. That was  like getting kicked in the balls, and then getting  pushed down the stairs