Thanks Katie!   Now if I caught 50 like that, I'd be having a typical Katie day.   There are levels to this game, little did I know that Maine is at the top until this place 😎

My late friend had a small cabin on a small pond in Maine. He said it used to be all trout but a few largemouth got in there. Another friend went up to stay with him and said he caught like 60 bass with a fly rod while trying to catch trout 😂 . From then on he was always mad at the largemouth for taking over the pond, I always told him that sounded way more fun than a trout pond 

Yep, the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages for trout and salmon, not bass. The Dept. views the bass as a scourge, even though they grow much bigger and are more numerous than trout and salmon. However, you can't grow trout and salmon in a bog, so the Dept. should be happy that there are fish that flourish in five feet of warm water.

 

On 12/23/2023 at 8:48 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Now if I caught 50 like that, I'd be having a typical Katie day.

 

Ha! 50 is a rare morning for me.

 

I'd like to fish with @king fisher, wouldn't you? His comment about finding huge largemouth from a kayak to be even more exciting than billfish stunned me. I'd be thrilled to catch ONE of his eight-pounders and you'd be in the pool for a DD.

 

Of course, we'd have to fish from kayaks! I sometimes fish from a kayak, as you've likely seen in photos.

 

Do you ever watch NDYakAngler's videos on YouTube? If you do, pay attention to how the fish turn and pull his boat. He'll often paddle in mid-fight as the bass, pike, and musky pull his kayak into trouble. 

Fighting 40 lb red fish or 250 lb sting ray from kayaks in the sound surrounded by hungry bull sharks and God knows what else is always a rush!

 

You should come down to the NC coast if you like to be pulled around in a kayak by big fish!

 

Red fish hit all the same lures bass do also for what it's worth so that's kinda fun.

 

 

Frankly, Pat, that sounds beyond a rush to me. That sounds scary! Perhaps if I weren't so old. As the Gulf of Maine warms faster than 99% of the world's seawater, more and more striped bass swim in our coastal waters. I've caught striped bass in a motorboat. I've felt their power. I can't imagine catching them in my 32-pound canoe. 

The Bull Sharks are the ones that need to watch out, I've seen your success!  😂😂😂

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Yep, the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages for trout and salmon, not bass. The Dept. views the bass as a scourge, even though they grow much bigger and are more numerous than trout and salmon. However, you can't grow trout and salmon in a bog, so the Dept. should be happy that there are fish that flourish in five feet of warm water.

 

Not that uncommon.  States out west view most fish other than salmons and trouts as lesser fish too.  Here in MN, the walleye is king.  They are stocked everywhere and regulations are such to protect them, even though they do not have natural reproduction in most lakes.  95% of walleye anglers are meat hunters too.  They are usually only released when they have to be.  I will say that bass fishing has gained popularity here over the last 10 years.  I'd still rank it as the 4th or 5th most popular targeted species here though.  And honestly I am fine with it being like that.

 

I doubt bass grow bigger than trout or salmon.  Especially salmon species.  King salmon can reach 40 or 50 pounds.

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

And honestly I am fine with it being like that.

 

Heck, yeah! Me too.

 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I doubt bass grow bigger than trout or salmon.

 

Brook trout are small and even the inland Atlantic salmon don't grow that big.

NYS is all about the trout and salmon as well. I get it, we do have a wild, native strain of brook trout that are direct descendants of the fish that inhabited the Adirondack lakes that were created 10,000 years ago by glacier melt. The streams and lakes that hold these fish are often C&R and artificial fly only. We also have some isolated populations of Atlantic salmon and wild Kokanee that enjoy strict regulations. But the bass regulations are a little wacky, even though some do exist. Not the right ones, if you ask me. 

On 12/22/2023 at 6:06 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

standby for a 5-6lber

Coming right up. 5.64lbs on a 1/4oz red eyed shad. The first crankbait fish out of Ol Muddy. The pond was not easy on me, though. That’s several hours of work. My Dad had one on yesterday but he did not land.

@LrgmouthShad Shot caller 🤣🤣🤣

 

That’s awesome.

Educated guess 👍🏻. Most bass we pull out of this pond are 5-6lbs. Hard to find a small one and they do not seem to get much bigger.

Ain’t any 6 lb bass within two hours of my house 😂, sounds like a great pond 

47 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Educated guess 👍🏻. Most bass we pull out of this pond are 5-6lbs. Hard to find a small one and they do not seem to get much bigger.

I’ll take anything over 2.5lbs all day long if I have to. 🤣🤣🤣

 

Seriously, that sounds like a blast. Nice Christmas Eve present.

 

I’m sure bigger will come at some point, if the pond’s big enough. I used to fish what amounted to a watering hole for cattle that was about 200’ X 75’ & had the biggest bluegill I’ve seen around this immediate area. It also had a few 4-5lb bass in it.

Just now, RipzLipz said:

pond’s big enough

2 acres. Max depth is 7ft. Max 6ft in most places deeper along the dam. There’s just this one hole that reaches 7ft. I graphed this pond years ago. Got lots of timber too.

 

Funny thing is, when I first fished this pond, I was convinced there was no bass in it. It was that tough. And it can still be really tough at times. What we know is that they really love plastics, and especially senkos, and especially black ones. Those weren’t working great, so I had to think outside the box this break. 

I was able to slip in a split trip today.  I ended up with 2 "real" bass and 5 micro bass.   I had Christmas yesterday with my Dad and Sister.  My Sister won't come if my Dad's girlfriend is invited.  (I think that's disrespectful)   Anyway,  I took my Dad and his girlfriend to breakfast this morning.   I got to the lake around 9:45 with an hour tops to fish before going to my Daughters for Christmas with her and her family.  I was meeting Mrs B there.   My goal was 1 bass before leaving.   I went to a rocky deep channel swing bank.   I had gotten my jig caught in some rocks and needed to re tie afte40 fee tr getting it loose.  I re tied, and just tossed the jig into the water next to the boat.  My reel wasn't locked, so the jig was sinking.  I was removing my coat when I noticed this, then I saw my line going sideways.   I grabbed my rod, locked the reel set the hook and boated a decent Largemouth.   The I was off for Christmas lunch with the Grandkids.   I got back to the lake around 2:30.   I was at the other end of the lake, different landing.  I went down near the dam to a 40 foot deep brush pile I know of.  I caught 2 micro spots there,  8 to 10 inches long.   That wasn't what I was after so I went to a ~30 foot deep rockpile.   3 more micro spots there.   I went back up river a bit to a channel swing that's 40 feet or so from the bank.  I caught a decent spot there and decided to call it a day.   The lake finally turned over.  I had been thinking that I had somehow missed the fall turnover.  The water stinks, with all kinds of stuff floating.  Surface temp was 49 this morning and 50 this afternoon.   I'm not sure about tomorrow.  Christmas with Mrs B's siblings ect is tomorrow at 2.  I may go in the morning.  I've still got a cough left over from Covid.  If it's raining I'll probably stay home.   

Took a quick solo Christmas Eve trip this morning. Sure wish we had some snow, but since that's not happening I'll keep making the most of sunny days in the low 50's. 😆

Edited to remove oversharing woe is me stuff, it was a nice day. 

 

 

First time seeing a Coyote on the lake, and man was it mangy looking.   Crazy looking lion tail on it as well.     

 

Haven't seen the big Bucks yet as I don't see them until the rut, but this was a pretty little 3pt guy.

 

@Team9nine, that’s some cold water. We are still holding around 52-55 and probably rising 

 

@AlabamaSpothunter, if you really want your soul crushed you could go fishing in East TN all day and catch zero fish. We don’t wanna hear woe is me I caught 5 for 18 lbs haha. I’ve literally never even come close to that in my life 

 

I’ve been seeing a few 4 pt and 6 pt bucks as well, I’m guessing the big ones stay in the shadows. 

Alex, thank you for having your GoPro aimed at your hands and rod. That is so informative for me. Most anglers who create YouTube videos keep the camera focused on the water, but keeping it on your hands shows me how you're working your lures and catching your big bass.

 

Sorry you lost your biggest one, but I'm sure happy you caught a pair of five-pounders. They're beautiful. 

Thanks Katie, I've found watching the GoPro footage to be an invaluable tool.   

 

One of the biggest eureka moments happened last year when I realized 90%+ of the A-Rig fish I caught came right after a rod pop.    Now it's second nature using rod pops in my A-Rig retrieve.   

 

When the fish are biting it's crazy how quickly you'll learn new things or nuances to a bait.    After today I realized my default setting on a blade bait should be smoother, smaller rod lifts, letting that bait hit the bottom again for at least the first half of the cast, and generally fishing it slower than I had in the past.   

 

I should have included my technique in the video, but I just want to bomb cast that thing in 15-25fow on clean structure areas free of hard cover......let it completely hit the bottom, then begin the yo yo retrieve.    For non electronic folks, I'm looking for channel swings, pinch points, main lake points, and anywhere deep water comes close to the shore....bluff walls, sharp tapering dropoffs, etc.  For 2D/Sidescan folks, I'm looking for swaths or a carpet of bait in those same above areas, but then specifically I'm looking to see fish on the bottom or edges of the bait in order to throw the blade bait.       When I see the Bass making spaghetti lines over the bait, that's when I switch to the Damiki Axe Blade or A-Rig.    

54 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Team9nine, that’s some cold water. We are still holding around 52-55 and probably rising 

My first winter down here, so no idea what is normal or what to expect. Coming from the Midwest, I’m used to fishing and catching in partially frozen/iced over conditions, so I’m guessing I won’t see anything quite that severe. This particular reservoir is small and relatively shallow - about 25 ft max depth - so it is probably pretty susceptible to these sub freezing nights more than others. I need to check out the neighboring water that is considerably deeper and see if it holds the heat mass better.

The slower moving reservoirs are the ones that seem to stay warmer . Shallow swift gets zapped cold overnight 

@TnRiver46  Oh I'm not trying to come across as woe is me, it's just incredibly frustrating when you feel you put yourself in the right position, and in this case the fish just won.      

 

Fishing in relative, and for me at least it's only a competition against myself.   I can't try to compare my results to Milliken or guides scoping on O.H. Ivie, but I can evaluate myself based on my water's Bass population, and my own past results. 

 

Well you’ve sure got one heck of a bass population from what I can see! 18 lbs is great bag anywhere. Hit me up if you wanna see some big drum in person 😂 🥁