22 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Nice one! Nice crappie too. Always love catching big slabs and big perch on bass gear by accident. Did you get a length? Looks like it could have been a pin. 

Both fish were 2 inches shy of pins.. I haven’t got any yet this year… YET.

That’s a big crappie!

I caught 14 this morning in the rain at my pond in less than three hours. It was cool and I was happy to come home to a chicken pot pie and hot shower. Here are some of them:

 

16 hours ago, TheSwearingAngler said:

Both fish were 2 inches shy of pins.. I haven’t got any yet this year… YET.

Usually in the Fall every year I’ll get either a pin white perch or pin crappie by accident on a tailspin. The big ones seem to like chasing the schooling baitfish almost as much as the bass. 
 

I think last year the crappie came on a vision 110 actually. It’s always interesting cause they’re just so wide you hook one and swear it’s a 4lb bass at first cause of how much water resistance they have lol.

More from this morning. I'm launching again this late afternoon and will fish into the evening. I'd return to my pond, except by 4:00 p.m., it will have been raining steady for 24 hours and I have a canoe that's upright at my pal's pond. I want to tip it to empty it, so since I'm going there, I'll fish it too.

 

I caught some pretty smallmouth this evening:

 

@Swamp Girl

It's against the law to catch that many fish!

You had a good day.

9 hours ago, Angler Andy said:

It's against the law to catch that many fish!

 

I've caught 1,152 so far this year, which sounds pretty good, but I caught 2,044 last year, making me seem a slacker this year. I should pass 1,500 this year if I can find a couple groups of feeding bass like I did in October of 2024.

Went out pre and post front this weekend, had success on both ends.

 

Friday and Saturday were windy and without my anchor and trolley system I would have struggled greatly. Friday was at a river that I tend to struggle on but I managed to get a decent pattern going targeting the deeper cover that was getting hammered by the wind. I lost one on the squarebill early on but landed two and got some more on a bladed jig and donkey rig.

 

Saturday I fished the lake I was struggling on in the past and was able to get one decent fish and a few dinks at the dam, but nothing elsewhere. The dam usually flows pretty good but the last couple of times I went there was barely any outflow, but it was still there. The herring fry were everywhere due to the current and the wind pinning them down below the dam. I lost three small bass before I switched my flashy swimmer to an open hooked underspin and finally pinned a good one, around 2 lbs. I landed a couple more dinks at that current outflow before making my way around the pond. One or two panfish but other than that a pretty uneventful adventure. The rain and wind picked up and I got home before it got too bad.

 

Sunday was the tail end of the cold front and I went out to a newer pond, this one was part of the same watershed as Saturday's lake. There was lots of dying grass on the shorelines so I went deeper to the livelier grass where I caught three on a stretch of water that was a bit offshore, woohoo!! While the wind wasn't really blowing like the previous days the moving baits were still the correct choice. The MVP of the weekend was for sure the squarebill, landing fish on 2/3 days. Followed closely by the underspin, also coming in with a 2/3. Fall transition in full swing and hopefully after this week's cooler weather the fish will be munching hard.

I stayed close to home this afternoon, taking a chance at a SMB/LMB lake whose vegetation was killed off a couple years ago.

 

There’s still little salad, but I found a couple nice Larries in the Northern shallows, going 4-2 and 3-3. The first one swallowed a 10” green/red flake Zoom Ole Monster. The second ate a @Siebert Outdoors green/red flake 3/8 oz. jig with purple Rage Bug trailer.

 

Topwater, jerkbait, crankbait, and everything else I threw didn’t draw a sniff.

 

Water temps were 74.x, winds were light, and air pressure was 30.2.

11 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

I stayed close to home this afternoon, taking a chance at a SMB/LMB lake whose vegetation was killed off a couple years ago.

 

There’s still little salad, but I found a couple nice Larries in the Northern shallows, going 4-2 and 3-3. The first one swallowed a 10” green/red flake Zoom Ole Monster. The second ate a @Siebert Outdoors green/red flake 3/8 jig with purple Rage Bug trailer.

 

Topwater, jerkbait, crankbait, and everything else I threw didn’t draw a sniff.

 

Water temps were 74.x, winds were light, and air pressure was 30.2.

When they're not actively chasing in the Fall I do like to go back shallow and pick apart those shallow areas and look for the healthiest clumps of vegetation or hard cover amongst the dying vegetation. Seems to pay off. 

33 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

pick apart those shallow areas and look for the healthiest clumps of vegetation or hard cover amongst the dying vegetation. Seems to pay off. 

That sums yesterday up. The bigger bass was just off the shallowest corner I was working. I let the worm soak a little while. 
 

The second one was in 3’ or less and bit as the jig hit the water. I must have hit that one on the head.

11 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

That sums yesterday up. The bigger bass was just off the shallowest corner I was working. I let the worm soak a little while. 
 

The second one was in 3’ or less and bit as the jig hit the water. I must have hit that one on the head.

Have you played around with your new boat/sonar much? I don't have access to any FFS but have been meaning to try some of the new "strolling" baits in key areas. Seems like it could be a good fall technique once the bait starts schooling heavily. I probably won't have much time this season to experiment with it, been busy with hiking I kind of put fishing to the side a bit this year, but next year I plan to get back to it some more. 

3 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Have you played around with your new boat/sonar much?

I've got some time using SCOUT mode.  I've tried DOWN and FOREWARD modes a couple times, but couldn't really make heads or tails out of either. 

 

My Ghost was OOS for a couple weeks.  Something went bad after installing my new toys.  Bass Fishing Electronics in NH replaced a couple boards they say are common problems with the Ghost TM.  

 

I can't say it's made me a better fisherman, but FFS really helps find bait balls.  It's also really cool seeing you lure come back to you.  The FS12 is GIANT when compared to the EliteTi2 9" screen I had before.

 

I try not to use it TOO much.  I don't want to get pulled down the rabbit hole of "staring at the screen and playing a video game"

 

22 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

I try not to use it TOO much.  I don't want to get pulled down the rabbit hole of "staring at the screen and playing a video game"

 

Yea I hear you. There's only a couple lakes I fish where there's landlocked alewives that I'd be curious in using it on. They school up so much in the Fall and it seems like if you aren't on them you aren't catching. You can find them using side scan but if they move around it can be hard to follow with traditional sonar. 

Thick girl this morning on a Burner worm.

 

On 9/9/2025 at 1:09 PM, MassYak85 said:

They school up so much in the Fall

 

They do.

 

On 9/9/2025 at 1:09 PM, MassYak85 said:

it seems like if you aren't on them you aren't catching.

 

That's right. However, I just paddle and troll and cast until I bump into some. In the meantime, I enjoy the colors.

 

 

There's color in the sky too:

 

 

On 9/9/2025 at 8:31 AM, MassYak85 said:

When they're not actively chasing in the Fall I do like to go back shallow and pick apart those shallow areas and look for the healthiest clumps of vegetation or hard cover amongst the dying vegetation. Seems to pay off. 

 

This exact strategy worked for me last fall too. I found one remaining weed bed that was still green and it held bass. 

@Swamp Girl those recent pics? Fall setting in early up there

They're all from the fall of 2024. We have some color now, but the trees aren't blazing yet. 

I feel better now haha, I already feel like life is whizzing by, no need for autumn to get here early haha

8 hours ago, Banned User said:

Fall setting in early up there

 

Maine is a VERY DIFFERENT PLACE ....

 

Any-hoo, my Ranger followed my truck over the bridge to Cape Cod today.  I did OK.  Seven fish total, a few misses along the way, with a mix of SMB, LMB, and one white perch that thought it was a SMB making it onto the deck.  The perch came in just over a pound and my biggest smallie was 3.02.  A jerkbait, bladed jig, jig, tube, Senko, and Ned all produced.   The 3# smallie was in 4' of water in the grass, exactly where I wouldn't have expected it.

 

I played around with my Active Target more, and while I was admiring my jig bouncing in front of me, a little blip came up and ate it.  I guess you could call it my first video game fish!  Very cool to see.  I marked a few bait balls, but didn't pin down any big ones with marks around them.  There was the usual gazillion perch in and around the 30' mark.

 

It was pretty windy until about 1600 hours, sunny, and very seasonable.  Water temps were 74.x when I launched and 73.x when I left.  Air pressure was 30.1.

Took a short trip to a Plymouth pond I've gone to since the '70s.  I picked up two dink LMB straight away on an Emerald Rapala PXR Mavrik.  That was it.  90% of my equipment is in my Ranger, so I packed very light.  I threw a jig, T-rigged swim Senko, and a Kickin' Zako but nobody wanted them.

 

I saw a school of 8-10" LMB cruise by and a few bait clouds suspended in 25-30'.  One big LMB cruised by me late in the afternoon.  I saw it sneer at me as he passed.

 

There were a few other kayaks on the water and a handful of folks fishing from shore.  Nobody else looked like they were catching much either.

 

It was nearly calm and mostly sunny.  Water temps were 74.x and air pressure was 30.

 

Rapala's PXR's been a staple for me most of this year.  They stop on a dime and have a nice downward stance, come in great colors, and PRODUCE!  The hooks are MEH, but they don't cost $25 a pop like V110s.

Water temp is still pretty high to kick off the fall bite. A week of cool nights and you will be in business. 

I’m terrible at posting these when they’re new… here’s my best/favorite day from vacation. In order.

 

caught throwing against the bank with a flashback mini… he tapped it a couple times beside committing.

caught on a hard line weed edge found by the Lowrance on a Evo bladed jig.. an upgrade.

little fella hit a wacky rig up against the bank of an island that drops off steep... hooked him under the jaw, I respect his ambition.

my best fish of the season, caught on the Evo, over the aforementioned drop off next to the island. 19.5 inches, not a pin.

 

This was in Plymouth, water was right around 70 degrees. Wind was virtually non existent at 6 am put picked up by mid morning.

 

video drops tonight if anybody is interested.

Mist, foggy, light rain, overcast clouds but cleared up fairly fast.

Morning Temperature: 59 - 60°F

Water Temp: 71°F

Wind: Light breeze, Direction: N - NE

Cloud Cover: 75 - 100%

Humidity: 95 - 97%

Sunrise: 6:26am

Parked the car and started to unload the equipment. As I was about to take the kayak off the car, horror struck me - I left the paddles at home! I was going to call it off but I had an "emergency paddle". Whew, the day was not a disaster.

I on the water at about 6:45, . I did not wander far but stuck close by. My paddle speed was limited.

Despite that, it ended up being a good day for me.

Caught 3 pickerels, 10 LMB, 1 sunfish. Two fish leaped into the air and threw the lure winning that round. 

I rigged the fishfinder on a very temporary setup and fooling around with it. Worked well.

2 fish on wacky, 2 on topwater, the rest on a jerkbait. I've been using various brands of jerkbaits and I am really liking the X-rap. It catches fish without the cost of the "other" brand.

The wacky rig was thrown during a miss on the topwater.

According to the solarclock, major feeding time was 07:28 am - 09:28 am. The bite slowed down about 10ish.